


Harry Potter and the secret of the Elementals

by defiasstone2



Category: Frozen (2013), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Elemental Magic, Magic, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-06
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2018-01-11 10:48:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 54,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defiasstone2/pseuds/defiasstone2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In third year of Hogwarts, Harry Potter receives the marauders map from the Weasley twins and goes on his merry way to Hogsmeade. What would have happened if he had taken a closer look of the map that day and uncovered a secret that would change his fate... Several characters based on content from Disney's Frozen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How much difference a glance makes

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set in Harry’s third year, when George and Fred have just given Harry the marauders map and told him that he can use it to get into Hogsmeade without the consent form from his Uncle and Aunt. What if Harry perused the map first and found something amiss that needed investigating? Uses ideas and parts from Disney’s film frozen, which bits? Well you will just have to find out...

George clapped Harry on the shoulder one last time before steering him in the direction of the nearest staircase.

“Go on Harry, have fun whilst definitely not being in Hogsmeade.” He winked as Fred carried on speaking.

“And obviously don’t let anyone get hold of the map...” George joined in with a smirk as the two finished.

“Until your mischief has been managed!” With that said the two Weasleys turned in sync and walked off, their chuckles still reaching Harry as he had another look at the map. He was tempted to head straight to the secret passage they had mentioned before behind the humpbacked witch on the third floor, as a glance showed that there was no-one there right now, but some movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye, bringing his focus to the section of the 3rd floor that had been closed off in his first year for the protection of the Philosophers Stone. The area hadn’t been reopened to the majority of the castle even after the Quirrel incident, so what was a Slytherin doing there today when they should be in Hogsmeade with everyone else?

His sense of adventure screamed at him to investigate, Hogsmeade would still be there later after he had a quick look to make sure there wasn't something afoot. He wasn't as bad as Ron with thinking that all Slytherins were evil by default unless their name ended with Malfoy, but you could never be too sure...

Time skip:

Except for the obvious lack of a snarling three headed dog, the 3rd floor corridor was pretty much the same, not even a layer of dust which he would have expected from the place not being used in two years. The map indicated that the slytherin was up ahead, in one of the classrooms that took up the majority of this floor. Muttering a quick ‘mischief managed’ to wipe the map and leave his hands free, Harry started to sneak forward whilst drawing his school cloak round him tightly. Had it always been this cold and he hadn't noticed it until now?

He could hear a muffled voice as he approached the room that sounded like singing of all things, though his attention was more focussed on the light frost that covered the floor and walls around the door, what was going on in the room? Drawing his wand slowly, Harry muttered an unlocking charm and there was a small click as the door unlocked, allowing Harry to open it very quietly. The singing became clearer and Harry recognised it as a lullaby that Petunia had often sung to Dudley when he had been younger.

The classroom was a depressed lecture theatre, a semi-circle of desk rows all leading down to the main lecture floor, which was probably meant for DADA practices judging by its size and shape. But the normally stone floor of the lecture area had been turned into an ice rink of all things, with the layers of frost on the desks getting thicker the closer they were to the rink. Daphne Greengrass, the slytherin girl he had come here to check on was skating round the small rink with surprising ease, her eyes closed and seemingly doing it all on instinct. She finished the lullaby with a spin, arms out to the side and a relaxed smile on her face as her pale blonde hair twirled round in a plait.

His curiosity sated, Harry was about to turn around and leave the girl to her own devices when she started singing once more and he stopped to listen to her soft but expressive voice.

“The snow glows white on the mountain tonight  
Not a footprint to be seen  
A kingdom of isolation, and it looks like I'm the Queen  
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside  
Couldn't keep it in; Heaven knows I've tried

Don't let them in, don't let them see  
Be the good girl you always have to be  
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know...”

(Taken from “Let it go” from Disney’s Frozen)

It was hardly an uplifting song for Daphne to be singing, but it drew Harry in like a moth to flame and he strayed a little further into the room to listen a little better. He was so entranced that it was only when he felt the hard tip of a wand to his lower back did he realise someone had just snuck up on him. A feminine voice, quiet and serious spoke into his ear.

“Drop the wand Potter and don’t try anything stupid, we've put up with enough of your heroics over the last few years.” Realising how much of a disadvantage he was at, Harry did as he was told, his wand dropping to the floor with a clatter. Daphne obviously heard the noise as he eyes shot open and she quickly came to a stop on the rink, her eyes quickly catching Harry’s and her previously cheerful expression becoming apprehensive. She moved to the edge of the ice rink, grabbing Harry’s wand as it rolled down the stairs to the rink’s edge, Harry noticed that the skates she had been using were actually just attached to the base of some normal trainers, which she quickly removed as the figure behind him shoved and prodded him towards the nearest chair in the top row.

“Sit down Potter, I don't trust you not to try something.” Sitting in a chair and limiting his mobility whilst being outnumbered and without a wand was not exactly a good idea, but it wasn't like Harry had much of a choice. As he sat down he saw his other assailant for the first time and saw it was Tracey Davis, which was hardly surprising considering the two girls were rarely seen apart. For a short girl she was surprisingly intimidating with her wand pointing at him and a deep brown eyed glare on her face. She was dressed in heavy outdoor clothing including a hat which contained pretty much all of her long auburn hair, a single lock escaping to hang down the left side of her face.

His attention was drawn away from Tracey though when Daphne started moving up the stairs towards him, the ice thickening and spreading on the floor around her as she did so. Having never seen anything like it before Harry couldn't help blurting out a question.

“How are you doing the whole ice thing?” Tracey looked over to Daphne at his question and her glare morphed into a concerned frown.

“Daphne, you need to calm down, we don't want things to get any worse...” Daphne glared up, though at which of them was unsure before she slammed her free hand into the nearest desk, coating it instantly in an inch of ice along its upper length.

“How can I calm down Tracey? Of all the people who had to find out it had to be Perfect Potter! If we don't do something he’s going to tell everyone everything by the end of the day!” Harry felt hurt at the implication that he was a gossip, especially as he didn't know what was so important to be worth spreading. He went to stand up but Daphnes ice-blue eyes fixed properly on him and he felt compelled to sit back down, though he still found the courage to speak up once more.

“What would I tell people? I didn't know that being able to create ice was that big a thing.” There was a throaty giggle from Tracey at this who seemed more relaxed with the situation after what he said, though Daphne still looked worried.

“See Daphne, Potter has no idea about what is going on, so I think we can cool things down...” She chuckled at something, probably an inside joke but Daphne did not seem mollified to the same extent, placing her hands on the sides of her head in frustration.

“Sure, he doesn't know what he’s seen but I bet you the moment they get back from Hogsmeade he will tell Granger and Weasley. You know the bookworm won't give up until she’s found the answer, I mean it didn't take her long to work out the thing about Lupin did it? And Weasley might know straight away, he’s stupid but it is one of the things that wizards teach their kids and he won't care about ruining my life if it gets him in the spotlight for a week or two...” The comments about his friends were successfully anger Harry and he forced himself up, overcoming the strange urge that had overtaken him. A moment later he wished he hadn't as Daphne thrust her free hand in his direction, a wave of ice and cold air blasting him back into his seat and freezing him too it by the arms and legs.

Suddenly it started to make sense why the two of them didn’t want it too get out she had this power, it was much stronger than anything he could come up with at this stage. He didn’t find himself afraid though, the girl had obviously held back considerably judging by how she could create ice just by walking around so she didn't want to hurt him, especially by how quickly her face turned to horror at what she had done. Instead he found himself fascinated by it all, looking down at the ice holding him in place and tugging at it, only for it not to budge in the slightest.

“That was so cool! How did you do that? Is it wandless magic or something?” His reaction obviously caught Daphne off guard as her horror turned to surprise and surprisingly a small glimmer of hope.

“You mean that you are not afraid of me? Afraid of what my powers can do to you?” Harry shrugged as best he could, he had long got used to the idea that pretty much everything in the magical world could be dangerous depending on how it was used.

“Not really, you seem to have a lot of control over it, its just another branch of magic right?” Tracey shook her head, tutting as she put her wand away, obviously not worried about Harry now he was incapacitated.

“Oh Potter, if it weren't for the fact that you are so famous I would have thought you were a muggleborn. Daphne has elemental magic, which has been controversial for centuries. Because of the trouble that the elemental mages have with controlling their powers, that ministry passed a law a century ago banning elementals from being in populated areas without severe magic restrictions placed upon them. So that means that if you tell anyone about this...” Harry nodded, the results were easily enough to understand, Daphne would be kicked out of Hogwarts without so much as a chance to say goodbye to anyone.

“Dumbledore knows doesn't he?” At Daphnes uncertain nod he smiled and continued. “Well if he thinks you have enough control then I don’t see why it’s anyone else's business. I know exactly what if feels like to be treated differently for something I was born with and have no control over. Though I have never seen this” He gestured around the room with his head. “Happen anywhere else.” Daphne seemed overjoyed by his words, but shook her head and smirked in his direction.

“Sorry Potter but I am not giving away all my secrets. Perhaps if you're a good boy and do me some favours I might let you know.” Typical Slytherin, but it was fair enough for her not to spill her secrets to him at the first meeting.

“I said I wouldn't tell anyone about any of this, what more do you want from me?” Daphne smirked at this and Harry suddenly got the feeling that he was going to regret saying those words...


	2. Down Down in the Deeps

_Previously on Harry Potter and the Elemental Tale-_

_“Dumbledore knows doesn’t he?” At Daphnes uncertain nod he smiled and continued. “Well if he thinks you have enough control then I don’t see why it’s anyone else's business. I know exactly what if feels like to be treated differently for something I was born with and have no control over. Though I have never seen this” He gestured around the room with his head. “Happen anywhere else.” Daphne seemed overjoyed by his words, but shook her head and smirked in his direction. “Sorry Potter but I am not giving away all my secrets. Perhaps if you're a good boy and do me some favours I might let you know.”_

_Typical Slytherin, but it was fair enough for her not to spill her secrets to him at the first meeting. “I said I wouldn’t tell anyone about any of this, what more do you want from me?” Daphne smirked at this and Harry suddenly got the feeling that he was going to regret saying those words..._

Chapter 2: Down, Down in the Deep:

Persona: Harry Potter

Harry was leading the two Slytherins back through the castle, glad that everyone but the first and second years was out at Hogsmeade so that they did not see the unlikely trio together.

“So let me make sure that I have all of this straight? You want me to tell you what really happened at the end of my first year and second year and then we can talk more about your really cool thing? I thought the rumour mill had covered that more than well enough. Something about me arm wrestling Slytherins monster last I heard.” He avoided using the word Ice in case there was anyone listening in, but judging by how Tracey giggled whilst Daphne gave a small smile as he spoke he could have come up with a better phrase to cover it. Daphne took only a moment to take in what he had said before she quietly raised a question.

 

“We all know that the only thing the rumour mill never gets right is the truth. What I don’t understand is where you are taking us anyway Potter? I really do not need Malfoy getting word that we have been seen hanging out with you.” Harry shook his head in amusement but made sure not to be spotted smiling at her comment, Malfoy was obviously not too well liked even in his own house.

“Don’t worry, we are almost there. I just think that this story is one best shown rather than me trying to tell it.” Reaching his destination Harry opened the door and bowed in an over exaggerated manner. “Welcome ladies, to the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.” Looking up he saw the two girls looking at him with skepticism on their faces, though Tracey was the one who spoke up.

“Potter, this is Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. What game are you playing with us?” Deciding to grandstand a little longer, something he had to admit he was enjoying probably slightly more than he should, Harry wagged his finger in the girls direction.

“Is that anyway to talk about Myrtle girls? I will tell you now she was key in solving the case of the Chamber of Secrets.”

 “Really Harry? After you not visiting this year I was just beginning to believe that you didn’t care about me at all!” Myrtle’s voice made Harry wince slightly at what he had said, that was karma for his cockiness right there. He saw Daphne smirk slightly making it clear that she had caught his wince, but he supposed that what he said had been true, so he turned and smiled at the translucent figure.

“Yes, without you telling us what had happened the first time the chamber opened I would never have found the entrance in time to save Ginny.” Myrtle looked happier than he had ever seen her and she flew through him doing the ghost impression of a hug. Managing to ignore the cold feeling passing through him Harry turned back to the matter at hand.

“Myrtle, I am about to show these two the chamber of secrets. I know you can probably get in there whenever you like but would you like to come with us?” Myrtle turned back to him with an expression that made Harry worry that he was about to get another hug, before she seemed to reign herself in and nodded slowly.

“I-I can’t get through the wards without you opening it all up I think Harry, obviously Slytherin didn’t trust the ghosts of Hogwarts to keep its location secret when he built the chamber. Are you sure... I mean I would love to come with you, but I know what your friends say about me...” Thinking back to what first Hermione and then Ron had said both to and around the young ghost Harry could understand why she was a little unsure as to whether he really wanted her to come with them. Harry shook his head and stepped up to Myrtle, deciding to do something he had never thought he would try and went to hug the ghost. He passed into her of course but he ignored the cold and maintained his place as he spoke quietly.

“Don’t ever think of yourself as other people say you are Myrtle, the only opinions that matter are those of your friends. If I listened to everyone when i was younger, I would never have made it where I am.” Harry was referring to his childhood, with his relatives trying to force him to think of himself as nothing but a freak who was completely useless. But with Daphne and Tracey nearby who he didn’t completely trust with such personal information he kept it vague enough that they would probably think that they meant last year with the Heir of Slytherin business. Myrtle didn’t respond for a second and Harry was about to pull back and look at her when Tracey suddenly burst out laughing. Turning to look he saw the auburn haired girl almost hunched over as the laughter continued to grow in volume.

Obviously his confusion at what was so funny was clear on his face as Daphne, who had merely giggled for a moment before resting her features into a small but warm smile, decided to let him in on the joke as she closed the door to the bathroom and brought out her wand to cast what he assumed would be a silencing charm.

“You obviously have more super powers than we were made aware of Harry Potter, you're the first person I have ever heard that can make a ghost faint dead away...” Stepping forwards and then twirling round, Harry saw what she meant. Myrtle was floating as always, but her cheeks were a dark blue and her eyes rolled back into her head. Harry’s blush matched the ghosts in short order as Tracey managed to control her laughter for just long enough to add a comment to Daphnes own view.

“D-Daph, can you imagine, Potter doing that to the Baron! He...” That was as far as she got before her laughing fit continued, Daphne being unable to prevent a full laugh of her own resonating round the room, obviously the mental image amused her as much as it terrified Harry to his very core. It took a couple of minutes for Myrtle to recover to a cognisant state, which was more than enough time for Harry get back into the required mind to use the snake carving on the sink to open the Chamber entrance. Looking down the dark slide-like tunnel into the ground, he could almost feel the skepticism of the two Slytherin girls rising once more.

“Sorry girls, last time I didn’t have time to see if there was a more... lady friendly route down to the chamber. Any ideas?” After trying several of the suggestions such as ‘give me stairs’ and ‘take us to the chamber’, getting nothing in response. It was a still blushing Myrtle that suggested they shouldn’t try such complicated phrases, considering that Slytherin would have been the only parselmouth at that point he would probably have kept it simple. She also went into a spiel about Arithmancy equations and the complexity of activation words that Harry honestly lost track of in the first two sentences, but he followed her suggestion and tried one word phrases.

It was as he said “down” that the small section of flooring he was on began to shift down into the tunnel, Daphne and Tracey jumping to join him on the platform before it got too far away from them. It was not the most comfortable journey, the platform had obviously been designed for a full grown wizard to stand on comfortably, which meant the three of them were forced to grab each others sleeves and pull themselves together to fit down the pipe.

Luckily Harry had been facing the sink entrance when the platform had begun moving, meaning he was facing out of the group rather than inwards which would probably have made things much more awkward. Myrtle floated through him part way down before looking round in wonder at the pipe tunnel. “I have never seen a pipe this big before here, I thought I had travelled all of the ones in the castle. I wonder what the chamber looks like?”

There was an inquisitive tint to Myrtles voice that reminded Harry that underneath it all Myrtle had originally been in Ravenclaw. Before he could answer her unintended question, the platform reached the base of the tunnel and brought them out into the entrance chamber. Deciding to try something that had occurred to him when Myrtle spoke of keeping the phrases simple Harry stepped out and clapped his hands.

“Lights!"To his immense relief there was a draw upon his magic and  the torches built into the sides of the chamber burst into green flames, illuminating the corridor up until the basilisk skin and the caved in section. Myrtle floated up to one of them and poked at it for a moment before nodding.

“Magefire torches, probably some kind of replication and preservation charms on the oil that is being burned that allow them to be usable after all this time.”

“Forget the torches Myrtle, come and have a look at this skin. You too Tracey, what are you still doing over there?” Tracey seemed to be too busy trying to avoid the small animal skeletons to deign that with an answer, Daphne striding purposefully forwards to reach the aforementioned skin to run a hand over it softly. Harry walked up slowly, stepping agiley between skeleton pieces to reach her.

“Looking at this really doesn’t compare to the real thing.” Obviously he had been quieter than he thought as she jumped at the sound of his voice, a layer of frost covering the basilisk skin as she whirled around.

“Potter! Don’t do that!” Harry couldn’t help but smile somewhat cheekily at the Hermione-esque tone that slipped into Daphnes normal steady speech, but he quickly realised that wasn’t helping when Daphnes glare deepened and her hands rose rather menacingly. Ducking into the tunnel that Ron had made through the cave in even as a snowball sized piece of ice impacted into the area he was stood in moments before, Harry decided it would be best to move thing along before he aggravated the girl any further.

“This way everyone, the main chamber is through this mess that Lockhart caused.” That prompted an explanation of what he had meant by that, so as they walked up the corridor to the massive doors leading to the chamber he explained the story behind his first trip into the depths of Hogwarts.

“That’s what happened to Lockhart? How has Weasley managed to not boast about getting rid of the useless braggart all of this time?” Harry shrugged, considering what had happened with Ron’s wand and his lack of actual involvement with dealing the basilisk, the Weasley probably preferred the other rumours that were going around about the whole incident that had him valiantly assisting in the fight with Slytherin's monster. Reaching the main chamber doors, Harry was a little confused as the doors had closed themselves since he had left last time. Deciding it was probably nothing to worry about, Harry shifted to the side to let the others through the rockfall passage.

“Welcome everyone, we have made it to the Chamber of Secrets. _Open_ Prepare to be entranced by the majesty of the most truly hidden place in Hogwarts.” The doors opened at his command as he slowly turned from the others to the chamber, speaking with a humoured tone as he for once relished the attention he was getting for something that wasn’t for the Boy-Who-Lived bull that he was used to. He finished his turn as the doors opened up enough for him to see inside the still lit chamber, his tone changing to shock, disbelief and finally terror as he took in the scene before him.

“And now you should all... run!” The basilisk, who he had slain by stabbing it through the mouth the year before with the sword of Gryffindor ... was gone.

**A/N: HAHAHAHA So much fun! Whilst I am sure most of you saw that cliffhanger coming, I felt if I was actually going to turn the plot bunny into a proper story I needed some drama. Also, I never understood why Harry never used the Chamber of Secrets after his second year. It would have allowed him to get away from the pressure of the tournament, then Umbridge and her cronies etc etc.**

**I know Harry acts differently in this chapter to how he acts in the book but I have always seen him as the fighter for the underdog and someone who understands being bullied and ostracised, which is what has happened to Myrtle before she died.**

**Myrtles character also may raise a couple of questions, but I like to think that how you treat a person affects how they act around you. So a show of kindness and respect can go a long way to making someone a lot more hospitable.**

**Let me know what you think by reviewing and favouring the story. The good, the bad and the downright ugly are all welcome.**

**Defias out!**

 


	3. Bargain and Basilisks

_Previously on Harry Potter and the Elementals Tale:_

_Ducking into the tunnel that Ron had made through the cave in even as a snowball sized piece of ice impacted into the area he was stood in moments before, Harry decided it would be best to move thing along before he aggravated the girl any further. “This way everyone, the main chamber is through this mess that Lockhart caused.” That prompted an explanation of what he had meant by that, so as they walked up the corridor to the massive doors leading to the chamber he explained the story behind his first trip into the depths of Hogwarts._

_“That’s what happened to Lockhart? How has Weasley managed to not boast about getting rid of the useless braggart all of this time?” Harry shrugged, considering what had happened with Ron’s wand and his lack of actual involvement with dealing the basilisk, the youngest Weasley probably preferred the other rumours that were going around about the whole incident that had him valiantly assisting in the fight with Slytherin’s monster. Reaching the main chamber doors, Harry was a little confused as the doors had closed themselves since he had left last time._

_Deciding it was probably nothing to worry about, Harry shifted to the side to let the others through the rock fall passage. “Welcome everyone; we have made it to the chamber of secrets. Open Prepare to be entranced by the majesty of the most truly hidden place in Hogwarts.” The doors opened at his command as he slowly turned from the others to the chamber, speaking with a humoured tone as he for once relished the attention he was getting for something that wasn’t for the Boy-Who-Lived bull that he was used to._

_He finished his turn as the doors opened up enough for him to see inside the still lit chamber, his tone changing to shock, disbelief and finally terror as he took in the scene before him. “And now you should all... run!” The basilisk, who he had slain by stabbing it through the mouth the year before with the sword of Gryffindor ... was gone._

Persona: Harry Potter

 

Harry knew it was probably impolite to physically grab the two girls as he jerked backwards, shock and panic in equal measure, but he really couldn't bring himself to care. The doors finished opening with a grinding clunk even as Daphne jerked her arm out of his grip.

"What in Morgana's name is up mphm!" Harry covered her mouth hurriedly as he felt the slightest trembling underneath his shoes, moments before he heard the one thing that could possibly scare him more than a dementor.

" _Noise, smells, there is something...Speaker!"_ Harry had brought the Slytherin’s down here originally as a way of impressing them with the basilisk corpse and the chamber. There was also the small, cutthroat part of himself that had gotten him through so many difficult times at the Dursley’s that had pointed out that taking them down to the Chamber where only he could let them out very much avoided the risk of them trying to curse him and leave him somewhere remote to not be found for the next couple of days.

 

He found himself wishing that the two girls had done that when they first got him as the giant scaled head of the basilisk emerged from one of the side tunnels into the main body of the chamber. Daphne froze under Harry's grip, the temperature dropping rapidly as she tried to keep her powers under control. The basilisk reared its head and Harry could see the deep scars where its eyes would be from Fawkes attacks the year before. The giant serpent gazed blindly in the direction of the doors.  

“ _Speaker, I remember you... Eye Gouger! Fang Smasher! Come to finish it have you? Bring the cold one to do what you could not?"_ Harry assumed that the cold one the basilisk referred to was Daphne and he couldn’t help but wonder even as he stepped forwards somewhat cautiously whilst motioning for the others to head back through the tunnel away from them. Drawing up his courage and reminding himself that he was a Gryffindor Harry spoke out loud for the first time.

 _“I am not here to fight you mighty basilisk, I thought you already slain when I had to save my friend last year. We are not here to try and kill you and will leave you in peace if you do not wish for our presence.”_ The basilisk seemed a mixture of confused and amused by his words as it gave a set of hissing sounds that made Harry's very bones shiver. It loomed ever closer to him and Harry was ready to leap out of the way of a lunge, when the basilisk shook its head and turned away.

" _To let you leave now you know of my survival? Do not think me foolish Fang smasher, many powerful wizards would be down here in hours to ensure my permanent demise. But I cannot kill you out of hand, one of the other fleshlings might get away and the same will occur, not to mention that you are a speaker. You do not smell of my masters kin, not like the dark one who made me kill for him. There is something... Yes I think I recognise it, you are different indeed Fang Smasher. Enter the chamber Speaker, we may strike a bargain to ensure both our survivals and let me continue my Fathers work."_ Definitely not what Harry had expected from the large snake, considering the animalistic muttering that had been the majority of his experience with them _._

"Potter, what are you doing? Why did you bring us down here with a living basilisk?" Tracey seemed unsure whether to bolt into the tunnel or to start cursing him, whilst Daphne had separated herself from them by several feet, the distance between them heavily covered in ice several inches thick, obviously struggling with keeping her powers in check even as she interjected on his behalf.

"Tracey, he was obviously as surprised as we were, that's not important now. Harry, not that I mind in the slightest, but why has the basilisk not eaten us? It certainly didn't seem happy with you when it spoke at first." Harry raised his hands apologetically in the direction of the girls as Myrtle appeared through the cave in once more as he stepped into the chamber as the basilisk had... Well ordered was probably the right word.

"I thought it was dead I swear! Stabbing something through the brain usually works. The basilisk is more intelligent than I thought, it wants to bargain with me rather than try and kill us with the chamber entrance open. Also mentioned its Father, which I assume can only mean Slytherin himself. I think it won't like it if you try and leave, so just stay here until I work things out." Tracey didn't look at all happy with the idea, but she nodded her uncertain ascent to his request whilst Daphne to his surprise stepped closer to him with a determined look on her face as the ice receded around her. Obviously she knew what he was going to ask as she spoke up even as she pushed Harry ahead of him.

"What? You have just said that our survival depends on you matching wits with The King of Serpents itself, Slytherin’s personal pet and possible familiar. There is no way that I am giving you that sole responsibility if I can help it, you will be well out your league." There was the strange hissing from the basilisk once more, though this time it seemed almost lighter.

" _The cold one is wise, is this why you have her as an ally speaker? She has the right amount of respect for me as humans should."_ Harry quickly realised that if the basilisk could at least understand English, even if it could not speak it, they would have to be very careful with their words from here on in, which he hurriedly relayed to Daphne. The basilisk made its way down the chamber before curling itself underneath the statue of what Harry assumed was Slytherin, blindly gazing at the two of them as they stopped some 30 feet away. Deciding to start things off before the situation got any tenser, Harry started off with a question that had surfaced moments before.

" _If we are to strike a bargain today for our mutual benefit I would like to know how I and my friends should refer to you? Oh great and powerful basilisk, whilst suitably describing your size and awe inspiring presence, seems too patronising and I do not wish to insult you with such obvious ploys."_ Daphne hit him in the shoulder hard.

"If you are going to speak, do it in English idiot. How else am I to know what you are saying?" Harry rubbed the pained area whilst pointing at the basilisk.

"I speak parseltongue when I think hard about snakes and the basilisk is definitely on my mind right now. I will do my best but no promises." There was a hiss that caused both of them to hurriedly turn back to the basilisk, Harry translating quietly as it spoke in a slightly irritated fashion.

" _If you fleshlings are done with your bickering. You may refer to me as Stheno the immortal, slayer of Saxons, hunter of Normans and daughter of Salazar Slytherin amongst my other glorious titles."_ The basilisk paused just long enough for Daphne to hear Harry's shocked exclamation of the last title before continuing, and Harry was sure there was an amused undertone to its words. " _Only magically of course fleshing, don’t get any ideas. Great as father was, fleshling weaknesses he still had. Now then Fang Smasher, who are you and how is it that two descendants of my father ended up at each other's throats?"_

 Realising that the basilisk meant him and Riddle, Harry knew that trying to lie at this point would probably come back to bite him in the none too distant future, literally in all likelihood. Daphne seemed to come to the same conclusion as he finished translating, giving a short nod even as she grasped her robes and pulled them up a little in case they needed to run.

" _Stheno, the story of the fight between me and Voldermort is a long one that I do not fully understand myself. But I will do my best to explain it as quickly as I can."_ Now Harry just had to hope that Stheno liked what he had to say...

 

Time skip:

 

Harry drew the story of his first encounter with Voldemort, where he lost his parents and became the Boy Who Lived, to a finish whilst the Basilisk waited patiently. The ancient snake seemed intrigued with the events as it shifted before speaking once more.

" _So the dark ones habits were not curbed by the death of the child in the hallowed halls above? He did not understand my Fathers beliefs no matter how much I tried to explain to him. To the dark one I was just the monster to fulfil his desires, though with his actions he is darker than I realised. You have his stench around you Fang Smasher, faint though it is I feel that the dark ones actions that night left scars deeper than you realise."_ Reaching up to his forehead where his scar lay, Harry wondered whether Stheno meant more by her words than she intended. Daphne spoke up as he finished translating, the equivalent of a burning desire for answers limited to the slight breathlessness when she spoke.

"Stheno, you speak of Lord Slytherin’s desires and how they were different to what Voldemort preaches, it is thought that Salazar Slytherin was greatly opposed to the teaching and inclusion of muggleborns in magical society, which is what Voldemort was supposedly fighting for. Does this mean that our understanding is wrong? Or is it his methods that you do not agree with?" Stheno's head moved closer to Daphne as she finished speaking and Harry felt the girl stiffen slightly next to him, the temperature of the room dropping once more. Stheno's forked tongue, which was about the length of Harry's arm, shot out and stopped inches from her face, causing her to flinch back, ice blanketing the floor and covering Harry's robes despite the warming charms he had put on them. Stheno seemed almost concerned at the reaction as she spoke once more.

" _Cold one, you have not been taught how to utilise your powers? That is most dangerous and it cannot be that you are behind in your studies, I can smell the strong scent of musty books on you and your magic is almost as strong as Fang Smashers. You obviously do not lack upbringing or intelligence given how you speak, though it has been so many years since the last time I spoke to a human on equal term. This travesty takes precedence over your questions. Let me think, yes. Come Fang Smasher and bring your friends with you. I think I have something that can form part of our bargain."_

The basilisk then hissed something that Harry didn't understand. It felt almost familiar to him, though the hiss had an almost regal tone to it that was filled with power. The statue of Salazar Slytherin began to shift before his eyes, sections of it shifting into the walls on either side whilst the middle parts almost flowed down into the pool at its base, shifting to form a walkway wide enough for Stheno to slither along it into the darkness it revealed. Just when Harry thought the situation couldn't get any more uninviting...

He reiterated what Stheno had said to Daphne and Tracey, who had moved closer during his explanation about Voldemort's rise and fall. Tracey beat Daphne to speaking, looking a lot less scared than she had previously.

“Try your lights trick again Harry so we can see what is inside. Or should I instead be referring to you by your latest title oh great and terrible Fang-smasher?” Harry winced; he could tell that was going to get used against him repeatedly in the near future. Deciding to try Tracey’s idea he spoke out ‘ _lights_ ’ once more, only for nothing to happen. Looking around quizzically around the darkened area, Harry shrugged before stepping inside and drawing his wand theatrically.

“Obviously the spells did not get cast in this area, or they have failed with time. Good jobs we can create our own light then, _Lumos!_ ” Bright light burst from his wand tip, piercing the darkness around him to reveal another corridor that led to what seemed to be a set of stairs that curled up to the ceiling. Stheno was coiled up to one side of the corridor, obviously uncomfortable with the space but trying her best not to show it.

“ _Up the stairs is my Fathers quarters Fang Smasher, where you will find a bracer, forged of the legendary Star metal. It should be on the desk in the main room, though I have been far too big to ascend those stairs since the time of father’s grandson, so I cannot be entirely sure that other descendants have not moved it during their time studying here.”_ Approaching closer to the giant serpent, Harry decided that now was as good a time to ask questions as any.

“What does this broach do that you are so eager for me to fetch it for you Stheno? And what was the language you spoke before? I couldn’t understand it so it cannot be parseltongue...” There was a pause as the basilisk seemed to eye him for a moment before shaking its head sadly.

“ _What you call ‘parseltongue’ Fang smasher is merely the lower snake tongue; there is no eloquence or power to its words. There are two other languages that you as a snake speaker will be able to learn, if you have the aptitude and patience for them, which have greater strength and magical power...The broach is a magical focus, like your wand and it can help channel the cold ones powers, making them easier to control and restrain. It is no substitute to proper instruction, but that is something that I will not assist with.”_ The fact that Stheno left the nature of the other language irritatingly vague grated on Harry’s nerves a little, but he resisted the urge to ask knowing that the basilisk would have far too much fun misleading him further. Instead he cautiously stepped past the giant head to the base of the stairs, ready to head up into the darkness that awaited him. Tracey’s voice surprised him as the sound of hurried movement got closer.

“Wait for us Potter, we are coming too!” Looking back he saw Tracey half-dragging a rather unwilling Daphne towards him, the red head seeming to have resigned herself to being eaten if the basilisk really wanted to have them as a snack. His incredulous expression was obviously clear enough to make the unspoken question obvious as with a heavy exhale Tracey stopped trying to drag Daphne with her and instead straightened up and pointed up the stairs.

“From what I have understood thus far, I am guessing that up there may well be the secret rooms of Salazar Slytherin. And you think I am going to let a Gryffindor be the first to step inside those hallowed rooms after a thousand years? Even if I won’t be able to tell anyone I will be able to mentally hold this over everyone’s head for ever.” She definitely had a... unique way of looking at the situation Harry thought somewhat amusedly as Daphne caved to accompanying them up into the darkened rooms beyond...


	4. Another Wonderful Plot at Hogwarts

_Previously on Harry Potter and the Elemental Tale:_

_The fact that Stheno left the nature of the other language irritatingly vague grated on Harry’s nerves a little, but he resisted the urge to ask knowing that the basilisk would have far too much fun misleading him further. Instead he cautiously stepped past the giant head to the base of the stairs, ready to head up into the darkness that awaited him. Tracey’s voice surprised him as the sound of hurried movement got closer. “Wait for us Potter, we are coming too!” Looking back he saw Tracey half-dragging a rather unwilling Daphne towards him, the red head seeming to have resigned herself to being eaten if the basilisk really wanted to have them as a snack._

_His incredulous expression was obviously clear enough to make the unspoken question obvious as with a heavy exhale Tracey stopped trying to drag Daphne with her and instead straightened up and pointed up the stairs. “From what I have understood thus far, I am guessing that up there may well be the secret rooms of Salazar Slytherin. And you think I am going to let a Gryffindor be the first to step inside those hallowed rooms after a thousand years? Even if I won’t be able to tell anyone I will be able to mentally hold this over everyones head for ever.” She definitely had a... unique way of looking at the situation Harry thought somewhat amusedly as Daphne caved to accompanying them up into the darkened rooms beyond..._

Chapter 4: Another wonderful plot at Hogwarts.

Timeskip: 1 hour.

“As much fun as that was Harry, next time you take us on an adventure I expect proper warning so that I am properly equipped.” This comment from Tracey as the three of them were moving back up the chamber entrance to the bathroom made Harry chuckle. Tracey and him shared a quick smile even as Daphne, who had been the most excitable he had ever seen when he had found the bracer that Stheno had been talking about, seemed to be doing her best to return to her normal persona as she snorted and raised an eyebrow in the rather more excitable girls direction.

“Next time? You are that eager to spend more time with Potter; all the while fearing for our lives at what hare-brained scheme he has planned next Tracey?” There was enough of an insinuation there that even with Daphne’s unfaltering distant tone Harry caught the idea the girl was aiming for. Tracey certainly did as she flushed a deep red whilst levelling a death glare at Daphne. As they reached the top of the chamber entrance and entered the girls bathroom Harry suddenly saw Tracey’s face shift from mortified to smirking, something that prompted his quick movement from between the two girls as Tracey responded almost gleefully, her voice rising in obvious smugness.

“Well I wasn’t the one that jumped Harry in Slytherin’s private room or got a beautiful piece of jewellery from him, was I? I wonder what you intended would think of the whole thing...” Being the rather awkward centre topic of this conversation had made Harry ready to bid a hasty farewell to the two girls and let them sort themselves out, but Tracey’s last comment had him steady himself as Daphne had a look of minor outrage on her face. An intended, did that mean that Daphne was already engaged to be married? Before the Greengrass girl had time to respond there was the sound of movement from outside the bathroom, a soft mellow toned girl’s voice speaking out in an excited manner as the door began to open slowly.   
  
“Sister, are you in there?” Daphne’s face paled even as she grabbed Harry roughly by the arm and threw him into a toilet stall, the door closing quickly as Harry did his best to remain quiet.

“Astoria, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to be in the library studying all day today?” There was the sound of small pattering feet on the bathroom, Harry could tell from the noises that the new person, who he assumed was Daphne’s sister, was running around the two girls in the room with her.

“But Daphne, working is so boring and the library is really stuffy, you know how much I don’t like it in there. I tried to find you in your usual room but you weren’t there, so I followed the whispers and so here I am! What are you doing in here Daphne? From what you told me this was an unused bathroom. It doesn’t matter I suppose, since I found you. Come on, let’s go and play. Since I got here I don’t see you anymore, it’s like you’ve gone away. Is it because you don’t want to be seen with me in front of your friends?”  The bombardment of words were delivered in a surprising mix of light and hurried, almost as if this girl had just experienced her first big sugar rush and didn’t know quite how to react to it.

There was an audible sigh from Daphne before she replied, but there was a warmth in her voice that was different from anything Harry had heard from her before now. “Of course not Tori, I have been busy with school work and stuff. But I now have a bit of free time so I am sure me and Tracey can come and play with you. Do you want to go outside and build a snowman? Or do you want to run around the halls?” The voices faded away quickly as the three girls moved out of the bathroom, leaving Harry to his thoughts and also to think on Stheno’s last words to him as they had been leaving.

*Flashback* 

As Daphne and Tracey moved away towards the entrance chamber once more, talking all the time almost without concern for the large snake that had originally terrified them. However, Harry stopped in front of Stheno’s head and spoke quietly in parseltongue.

“ _Stheno, thank you for your help with Daphne’s control trouble. In regards to our agreement, I wish to ask if there is anything I can do to make things easier for you both down here? Would you like food of some sort? I think we could get you up into the castle for a bit of fresh air at night some time?”_ The basilisk reared its head in obvious thought at his question before nodding its head.

“ _Something other than the rats the castle sends down to me would be nice, though how you would get enough food to sustain me without someone noticing I cannot fathom. Though the cold one and her fiery friend could help you with that, for a price that you have already paid with the bracer you gave them on my behalf. Keep the cold one with you Fang Smasher, she will be a very valuable friend and ally against the First Heir.”_ Harry nodded his head in agreement, he had also been thinking the same of Tracey despite her rather abrasive initial reaction to him, and the two Slytherins very quickly changed some of the views he had on the house of Snakes.

Admittedly having Malfoy as the loud and brash poster boy of the house of green and silver was hardly the best way to present your house, but he had to admit that it was a good thing to get the other houses to focus on whilst the other Slytherins did their plots and schemes. As he reached the entrance to the main chamber in order to catch up with the others, Stheno spoke seriously once more.

“ _Train hard Fang Smasher, I expect from what you have told me that the First Heir is not gone from this Earth like your new friends believe. If that is the case, you will need all the power that you get... Until next time Harry of Clan Potter, then we will see how much you have grown.”_

_*Flashback End*_

Harry couldn’t help but wonder at the ancient beings words, if Voldemort was to return as both Stheno and Dumbledore seemed to suspect, what was he going to do? Deciding to think on things a little later Harry cast a quick _tempus_ spell, only to find that it was less than two hours before dinner. Donning his invisibility cloak, Harry left the girls bathroom and headed towards the main staircase, weaving between the few first and second years that were traipsing through the halls.

Reaching the entrance hall Harry noticed Ginny heading into the great hall with a couple of her dorm mates, the memories of the small girl appearing lifeless on the Chamber floor surging to the forefront of his mind after the events of the day, reminding Harry that he really had no idea how the girl was coping with the harrowing memories of her possession the previous year. With no idea where Ron and Hermione were and when they would return from Hogsmeade Harry decided to live up to his houses example and be bold. Whipping his invisibility cloak off and back into his bag as he strode through the open doors , approaching the near end of the Gryffindor table where Ginny was sitting down with what looked to be transfiguration work being spread out in front of her.

“Is it okay if I jump in here Ginny?” The two girls who were sat across from the youngest Weasley suddenly erupted into giggles at his question whilst Ginny looked up sharply as if shocked that he was talking to her.

“Errm, sure Harry, if you want to that is?” The uncertainty in Ginny’s tone made Harry feel a little bad, but he reassured himself that he was making up for the previous distancing, which he had done unintentionally.

“Sure I do Ginny, how about you introduce me to your friends here? I am afraid with the ‘incident’ I had with the Whomping Willow last year that I missed your sorting and all the trouble with the Chamber meant I was a little distracted...” The girls giggling stopped as suddenly as it started as both of them looked away at his request, the paler of the two showing a light blush whilst the golden skinned one merely looked a little embarrassed. Ginny seemed much more relaxed than Harry remembered her being as she chuckled and gestured at the paler girl first.

“Harry, this is Vicky Frobisher and Ellen Jacobs, they are two of my dorm mates and as you can tell they are really pleased to meet you. Girls this is Harry Potter not that you needed an introduction. Couldn’t get into Hogsmeade today then Harry?” It was a nice surprise to have at least one of the girls not reacting to his fame, even if it was the one he least expected such a reaction from. Sliding into the seat next to Ginny Harry took a glance at her work as he replied.

“Yeah, no permission slip no trip according to McGonagall. So I spent the day exploring the castle a little more, ran into your brothers Ginny and found them up to their usual trouble.” Ginny looked a little eager to find out what trouble he meant, but that could wait till another time. Looking down at the essay Ginny was writing Harry felt confident enough to ask his next question. “Seeing as I left my bag and work up in the dorm and can’t be bothered to go get it before dinner, want a hand with your work girls?” Normally such an offer would have never gotten past Harry’s lips, as Hermione would have already been part way through checking their work by this stage. Though as Ginny nodded and started to talk about the transfiguring of buttons into beetles with only the slightest of red twinges on her cheeks, Harry had to admit he really liked the feeling that bubbled up in his belly, it was certainly something that he could get used to...

Timeskip: a half hour later.

It was a slightly bedraggled Hermione that entered the great hall as Harry finished showing how to do the beetles to button transfiguration again, the group of three he had been originally helping had expanded to include Colin Creevey and a pair of Hufflepuff boys who had been working on the same homework. Harry waved her over as he finished an explanation into the reasons why changing the colour and size of the button in comparison to the original beetle made the spell harder to cast, fully expecting for Hermione to highlight several things that he had either forgotten or never learnt on his first time doing this spell.

To his surprise she instead stood across from him slightly awkwardly, waiting for Ginny to finish asking him a question and his reply before speaking up almost hesitantly. “Harry, can we... I need to talk to you about something quickly, can we go somewhere private?” A bit bewildered by the odd behaviour from his usually outspoken friend, Harry nodded before turning to the second years.

“Okay everyone, I will be back in a minute so carry on writing up your work and write down any more questions you have, if I cannot answer them then Hermione here definitely will be able to.” Standing as the second years all nodded and started writing once more, Harry quickly followed Hermione out of the Great Hall and up the stairs to the first floor, the girl obviously fretting the entire way but refusing to respond to his repeated questions about what was the matter. They reached one of the disused practicing rooms; Hermione quickly bustling Harry inside before closing the door and cast a locking charm at the door. Harry was now getting slightly worried for her as she turned to face him, wringing her hands together.

“Harry, there is something I have to tell you about what Ron and I heard in Hogsmeade and well, I don’t think you are going to take it in the calmest of ways.” Harry sighed; here he had thought that he had had the worst of this year’s trouble with the nightmarish results of his clash with the dementors on the Quidditch pitch. But obviously there was something else going on to now try and ruin his surprisingly good day.

“Get on with it Hermione, what is it this time? The minister has in fact decided to have me expelled for the accidental magic at the start of the year and is assembling aurors to come arrest me as we speak? A group of ancient vampires have decided to cash in the reward on my head that no doubt some of the ex-death eaters have put on my head? I am open to just about anything after last year.” And with everything that had occurred with Daphne and the others today, Harry could honestly say that he meant it. His response obviously threw Hermione somewhat as she seemed a little gobsmacked for a moment before shaking her head.

“Well, I don’t think this news classes as either of those things, but it depends how you look at it I suppose. Ron and I had just headed to the inn in Hogsmeade after walking through the village, to get a drink and warm up a bit from the weather. Then whilst we were sat there Professor’s McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid and Minister Fudge came in and sat down in the booth next to ours. They didn’t see us...”

She paused for a moment and Harry knew without needing to ask that Hermione had something to do with them not being spotted, the twisting of some of her long curly hair with a distracted finger was an obvious sign if nothing else. “And then well, they started talking about Sirius Black...” The mention of the crazed mass murderer who was supposedly after his head made Harry’s stomach fall a little, perhaps he hadn’t been pessimistic enough with the vampire idea after all...

Timeskip: 15 minutes

Numb was probably the best description for how Harry felt at this point as Hermione finished telling him about the conversation she had overheard, the idea that Sirius Black had been one of his father’s best friends and had ended up betraying his parents to Voldemort should have lit a fire of fury in his belly, but he supposed being told second-hand about the revelation rather than overhearing directly had a way of reducing the emotional upheaval the words would have normally have provided, especially seeing as he was being told by Hermione who looked a mixture of scared and guilty, a combination that made Harry want to go and hug her more than anything else.

“So that is what Draco meant, I had to admit when he first spoke of me wanting revenge I was confused more than anything else.” The words surprised even him as he said them; the encounter with Stheno had definitely made him think things through a little more before acting on impulse. A thought struck him as Hermione let out a sigh of relief. “Wait a minute, if Ron was there as well, why are you here by yourself?” Hermione seemed conflicted for a moment before she sighed again.

“He was of the opinion that we could wait till we got back tonight before we told you whilst I wanted to come back immediately. We... argued about it and in the end I came up here to find you whilst he headed back off to Honeydukes. I just thought, well that you should know about this.” Harry smiled and nodded at this to show he appreciated Hermione’s sacrifice of what must have been a good couple of hours in Hogsmeade to trudge back up to the school to find him. Ron’s attitude was hardly surprising, amongst the boys faults selfishness was a major flaw that had no doubt arisen due to being the youngest of his brothers. And it was hardly like Ron had not wanted to tell him the news, the boy just to wait until they were done with Hogsmeade for the day.

 “Thinking with his stomach, that is hardly a big surprise there.” Seeing Hermione cast a worried glance in his direction Harry walked up to her and grasped her by the shoulders whilst looking her in the eye. “Hermione, I am fine. Well, no I am not really...” He changed his line after Hermione cast a amused but pointed glance at his somewhat automatic response to any question about his wellbeing. “But I am not going to go off and explode about this; it’s just a lot to take in...” Not entirely true of course, he knew that at some point it was going to hit him like a brick, but for the moment he wasn’t going to worry about it right now.

“Oh well, if you are sure Harry. I was going to get you some sweets from Hogsmeade but Ron’s suggestions...” As Hermione launched into one of her usual meandering information dumps in vocal form as she unlocked the door once more, Harry couldn’t help but fall into step next to her and wrap one of his arms around her shoulders with a small smile on his face. A mass murdering traitor could come later he mused; he had made a few new friends today and now could spend the rest of the evening with one of his best friends. Yeah, life was good right now...

Timeskip: 2 days

The next couple of days had been interesting to say the least; most of all because of Ron’s attitude after Harry revealed the Marauders map to him and Hermione during dinner that evening. Between the childish petulance aimed both at Harry and the twins and his claim that Harry obviously didn’t need the map as he hadn’t used it to get into Hogsmeade, the whining had resulted in Hermione snapping at Ron. Of course, this prompted another bickering match between the two, and Harry had been put out with the Weasley boy to have made his siding with Hermione clear enough to everyone who had ended up listening into the slowly evolving argument.

Ron had ended up storming off to the far end of the table and had since hung out with Dean and Seamus in an obvious belief that Harry and Hermione were in the wrong about everything. Harry found himself surprisingly unperturbed by the distancing of one of his two best friends; he had other things to worry about at the moment. With the news of Sirius Black crimes and obvious desire to finish what his dark master had started, along with Stheno’s warning still fresh in the back of his mind, Harry threw himself into his studies with a vengeance. Whilst he wouldn’t be going looking for the escaped convict, Harry knew he would need more than the disarming curse if he was to survive  a possible attack against him. Hermione was surprisingly helpful once he reiterated for the fourth time that he wasn’t going to go looking for Black or anything stupid like that.

Daphne and Tracey hadn’t shown any sign of their newly formed acquaintance with him when they had seen each other around the school, but the rumour mill had been filled with theories about where the Greengrass heir had gotten her new bracer jewellery and more importantly, who she might have gotten it from. Nothing that he was getting involved with however Harry thought as he refocused on the book in front of him, titled _Elemental powers, Magic or Menace?_ He had done a little digging into elementals in his free time, this book had been the only one he had tried to read thus far that had been in English, the others being in other languages including two that looked to be hieroglyphics. It definitely had an interesting perspective and it was obvious that the Author was definitely in the menace camp when it came to viewing elementals, but the background information was useful to know anyways.

Elementals had been revered in ancient times from the Sumerians to the ancient Greeks, many of the most powerful becoming revered as deities including most of the pantheon of Greek gods that Harry knew today. It was only with the rise of wizards as part of the Roman Empire as well as the brutal decimation of the elemental numbers in the sackings of Troy, Carthage and Athens that lead to the declining the elementals dominance. Of course, the elementals did not go quietly, though without the knowledge that had been destroyed in the various conflicts of the ancient times many of the featured elementals were primitive shamans and priests who lived in isolation away from society or as the favoured weapons of barbarian warlords...

“Looking into us then Harry Potter? Daphne said that you had found out about her the other day.” Harry wasn’t proud to admit it but he jumped as the light breezy voice of Astoria Greengrass came from right next to his head. Turning he saw the strawberry blonde haired girl smiling happily at him, her face mere inches from his as his heart rate slowly began to return to normal once more.

“Erm, Astoria right? Do you mind?” The girl looked down to where he was indicating between their faces in an effort to get her to back away a little for a moment before if possible her grin got a little bigger.

“Oh, I didn’t expect this when the whispers told me to come this way, but okay Harry Potter...” And then before he realised that she had gotten the wrong assumption from his indication, Astoria leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the lips. The shock of the moment meant he didn’t react even as she pulled back and smiled again, her warm expression delaying the sinking feeling in his gut as he spotted Daphne over her shoulder, giving him an icy stare from a table on the other side of the library.  Astoria’s face turned into a rather cute frown before she spoke once more, her voice a lot less cheerful than it had been before.

“Oh, Daphne really isn’t happy with us is she? I think we better head over before she gets angry enough to blast you even with your present helping contain her powers.” The fact the younger girl had said this without turning around to see her sister made Harry even more speechless, but he did not protest as Astoria grabbed his hand and pulled him up and over towards Daphne.

“Astoria, I don’t think Daphne wants to be seen with me, maybe we should...” Astoria giggled and put her other hand up to her mouth in a shushing motion.

“The whispers will keep anyone from noticing us if we remain relatively quiet Harry. Sis, I brought Harry as you wanted me too.” Judging from the light layer of frost that was covering the desktop under her clenched fists, he was going to have to do a bit more than a friendly greeting to get himself out of trouble this time...

 

 

**A/N: Wow, it has been a while since I have written part of a story that has gone in a completely different direction than I had originally intended, that bit with Astoria at the end came out of nowhere but at the same time completely fits the character I am trying to build for her. She will be a mixture of Anna from frozen along with how I picture an air elemental. In many ways she and Daphne will be opposites in character but that is the point, too many fanfics end up having girls all pretty much act the same.**

 

**Will she be part of the harem? I hadn’t envisioned it when I started and actually had other plans for her, but I think I will leave it up to you guys. Yay or nay, leave me a review and let me know.**


	5. The Wrath of a Woman is worst cold

"Potter, what are you doing with my 11 year old sister?" Every ground out word sounded like a death knoll in Harry's head, the rapid decline of the air temperature around him ironically matching the icy look in Daphne's eyes, as they bored into his own with murderous intent more than clear. Astoria seemed entirely unaffected by her sister’s furious countenance as she grinned dreamily at her whilst leaning lightly into Harry's shoulder.

"Sorry sis, didn't realise you would get jealous about a lion of all things." Daphne looked ready to kill him at this point, but before she could an icy wind blew across his face and he felt Astoria stiffen before she giggled a little more hesitantly.

"Oh, oh! So that's what the gesture meant, sorry Harry. Daphne, don't get mad at me but that all might have been me misunderstanding something. Hehe, my bad." Daphne's gaze, which had been fixed on Harry up until this point, shift down sharply to eye her sister as she clenched her fists once more. Astoria seemed to be trying to pull the innocent school girl act in an attempt to deflate her sister’s anger, but it obviously didn't work as Daphne's voice held the same anger as before with an undertone of exasperation.

"Tori which part of a full mouth to mouth kiss with a clan heir is a simple 'my bad' moment to you? This is not some random gryffindork your wind has randomly decided is yours, Harry is m..." There was a sudden stop and awkward pause as Daphne seemed to remember that Harry was in fact there with them, the red that came to her cheeks a stark contrast to her neutral expression as she did her best to save herself.

"He is a major public figure and will be subject to heavy media attention when he is older, so you can't be a constant embarrassment as you are with your current act." It was a subtle thing, a stilling of the air that caused Harry's neck hair to stand on end, which alerted him to the change in Astoria's emotions as she straightened up and moved away from him off to one side. The air that had been previously frosty was now almost oppressive and heavy, like the moment before a heavy storm. When the youngest Greengrass spoke, the previously airy lilt was gone and replaced with a steely edge.

"At least I do not ruin perfectly good parchment with MY powers sister, even with Harry's present helping you to control yourself. Being able to handle the pressure of the spotlight is more important than attitude and I think you would melt." Harry got the feeling that whilst they were talking about him he had long stopped being a part of the brewing argument; the ice which had previously covered the nearest several inches to Daphne was now spreading across the rest of the table at a very fast rate.

The situation did remind him of something he had read the other day, one of the many parchments that he had grabbed from the Chamber of Secrets whilst Daphne and Tracey were all excited over the bracelet she had just put on. The writings took some effort and concentration to read as it was written sometime in the 1300's in an old type of English, but they were the rather detailed recordings of one of the elemental apprentices. It described a much less enchanted Hogwarts than Harry had been used to, too say the least.

The charms that had been used to keep the rooms of the castle from getting too cold didn't exist back then and unless you were a fire elemental, which from the reading Harry had done seemed to be always hot to the touch and the most brazen and outspoken of the elementals, you had to constantly be aware of and deal with frost, ice and even snow on the floor and staircases. the apprentice, with the help of some of his masters and teachers had designed and then crafted a runic spell that could be quickly drawn upon a surface with a wand and the users magic and when completed was activated with a single word.

Grabbing his wand he quickly drew the rune from memory as subtly as he could before muttering the activation word. Obviously he hadn't been as subtle as he had originally intended, the sisters having postponed their glaring contest to watch him even as the drawn rune glowed with power and the accumulated ice and frost disappeared. The spell took more energy than he would have guessed from the writings description and he was left leant forwards on the table feeling like he had run up half a dozen flights of stairs whilst Daphne shuddered heavily before casting a look of interest and annoyance in his direction.

"What was that Harry? It felt like a high pressure wind was scrubbing all over my skin for a moment." It was obvious that she literally meant everywhere as she shuddered once more for a moment even as Astoria was staring intently between the slowly fading rune and Harry's wand.

"You just made the wind listen... I have never heard the whispers so controlled before; they seem to respect the rune and your power. I want a go!" The airy cheeriness that Harry had originally experienced with Astoria was back as if nothing had changed in the slightest, the girl nearly vibrating where she stood with her eagerness. Daphne also seemed prepared to leave their argument to rest for the moment as she instead busied herself with packing away her newly bone dry parchment.

"Not here Tori, if as you say that spell is related to air magic then you definitely shouldn't use it here. As you may have guessed Harry, Astoria also can wield elemental powers but she is a major elemental as opposed to a hybrid element like I am. As such she is much more emotionally controlled with her powers than I am, but when she uses spells that are linked to her element..." There was a shift in the air again, a blustery breeze which stilled a moment later as Astoria twirled twice on the spot whilst fidgeting.

"Wasn't my fault that Professor Flitwick is a water aligned and that covered the air element of levitation charm he taught us. They were able to remove the feather from the brickwork eventually..." The mental image of Flitwick's face Harry’s brain conjured, as the diminutive professor watched a feather shoot up and slam into the ceiling made Harry chuckle, though he quickly stifled it as Astoria winced in obvious embarrassment.

A polite cough from Daphne had Harry shift round to look at her, the silent request for a trip to the chamber was easy enough to read on her face. Sighing and glad that he had done his outstanding homework before he had started on researching elementals today, Harry spoke up.

"If you want to come to somewhere secret to practice, you can meet me there in forty minutes. I need to head up to the tower and drop off some things first before heading there. You need to tell her about Stheno before we get there though." As he turned to go collect his bag and things the elder Greengrass spoke up once more, the slightly demure tone in her voice causing him to pause and turn back.

"Pott... Harry, I am... Sorry about before. I just get a little overprotective of Tori given how carefree she acts. I just don't want to see her get hurt if I could have prevented it." The halting tone made it plain quite how hard it had been for Daphne to say that, but she seemed relieved when Astoria beamed at her and ran over to hug her, the younger girl obviously not used to such admissions from her normally distant sister.

It was moments like this that drew Harry back to the visions he had been shown by the mirror of erised during Christmas of his first year. More importantly it reminded him of the part of the visions that he had not told Dumbledore or even Hermione about. The mirror of erised did not just take the most prevalent desire of the user, but took the most deep-rooted of wants and weaved them together. His parents were there, that much was true, but it was the small red haired clump of hair and baby fat that was clinging to him that had surprised him and had kept him coming back throughout the year until the fateful night where Dumbledore intervened.

 Whilst he looked exactly like his father apart from his mother’s green eyes, the sister his vision showed him was a complimentary mixture of both of their features, hair a darker shade of red and brown than his mother’s whilst beautiful complex spectacles rimmed her round cheeks and cerulean blue eyes.  It was something that stuck with him since that moment and was probably one of the reasons he decided to talk to Ginny the other day, the youngest Weasley a surprisingly close mirror image.  Realising that he had zoned out for a moment, Harry smiled wryly at the slightly ruffled Daphne who was still being manhandled by her little sister.

"Don't worry about it Daphne, anything for a friend." He didn't miss the blush this time, but he knew better than to comment. There were something's worth risking the wrath of a woman over, this wasn't one of them. As the three of them went their separate ways, they were not to know that there had in fact been a fourth listener in their conversation, a small pitch black mouse that darted from the shadow of a table leg and skittered along the floor of the library, ducking and hiding under bookcases and behind books until it reached one of the darkest corners of the library, near the often talked about restricted section.

 It was almost pitch black in there, only a single candle on the table providing illumination, but even that looked like it would be snuffed out by the encroaching darkness. The mouse stopped and seemed to look around for a moment before it took a run up and with an unnatural leap it bounded up onto the table. It shifted from the murky depths into the light of the candle before its form melted into a black substance, spreading over the table surface in a tiny scrawl. As the words continued into a crawling roll of text there was a dark chuckle from the shadows, echoing out into the bookshelves to terrify an inquisitive second year Ravenclaw into running back to her friends in the main library.

"Interesting, interesting. I had merely thought the Potter boy a pawn in the headmasters little game. It seems that I need to pay more attention to the smaller pieces for once, especially if he has the resources to gift little Daphne with that bracer of hers without alerting any of my contacts." The writing became even smaller as it continued to detail the pertinent points of the overheard conversation, causing a face to emerge from the shadows like the monster from a childhood nightmare.

Matted chestnut brown hair, slightly tanned pockmarked skin along with freckles and four moles on the left hand side of his face made his black spectacles and gold flecked green eyes even more sinister and pronounced. He carried on reading for a moment longer before nodding and grinning, raising a hand as the shadow swirled around it to form a mouse identical to the one who had listened in on Harry's conversation.

"A meeting place hidden away from the rest of the school and an unknown entity named after a gorgon sister? If I was any more interested I would go myself, but alas I must focus my efforts elsewhere. Follow the Potter boy little one and tell me what he does from now until curfew tonight. Record everything, after all, any information is good information if you know how to use it..."


	6. Meet the Parents

Time skip: 1 day

 

Astoria had been ecstatic to see the Chamber of Secrets when Harry had met up with the Slytherins an hour later, dancing round the room humming a little tune to herself. Daphne had brought Tracey with her again, which Harry didn’t mind in the slightest as he quite liked the rather brash but intelligent girl. He had mentioned jokingly however that if the number of Slytherins was going to increase each trip he might need to recruit some back up from other houses. Whilst Tracey and Daphne had chuckled and smirked respectively, Astoria had seemed to take him seriously and had proceeded to natter on about some of the people in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff that the whispers said were ‘interesting’.

 

Harry was surprised by the sheer amount of information Astoria had on each person, though he assumed if you had the wind telling you everything it shouldn’t be overly difficult to collate it all. What was more disconcerting was how few of the names Astoria mentioned that Harry actually could put a face to, given that Astoria had started in her year before moving up each year to reach fourth year before they had reached the main chamber. Such self-perpetuated isolationism had originally been a carryover from his primary school days where no one wanted to make friends with Dudley’s freak cousin. Even as he steadily got used to the idea that he could make friends once more, it was followed by his second year, plagued by the events surrounding the Chamber of Secrets and the rumours of him being the heir, which according to Stheno he might now be but there was no way he was going to tell people that. The ease at which many of the people in school had turned him into a pariah hadn’t helped him socially, but that was probably as good a sign that he needed to change things as anyone else.

 

The thoughts about how he was going to deal with his social problems was pushed to the side as Astoria scampered around the statue filled chamber, seemingly ignoring the giant snake that was sat coiled at the far end of the room. The young blonde flitted from space to space whilst Harry and the other two talked about the spell he was going to show them, before stopping at one of the tunnel entrances, her face morphing into a look of confusion before she turned to Harry and tilted her head in a fashion he couldn’t help but find cute.

 

“Harry, the wind says there is another passage up to the school up here, did you know that?” This was the first Harry had ever heard of extra passages into the school, he had honestly never thought about it before now but multiple entrances made a lot of sense given how secretive and paranoid Slytherin was supposed to be. There was a hissing laugh from behind him before a slight trembling told Harry about the approach Stheno from behind him.

 

_“Of course there are other passages young windwalker, how else would my father have gotten students from the different houses down here to train their elemental magic without drawing suspicion? I can think of a dozen passages that lead up to the castle, the grounds or into the outskirts of the forest. Though how many of them are still serviceable is a different question. Fang Smasher, what say you to a little investigation?”_

 

The idea of having a dozen secret passages that only he could access was very appealing, especially if it meant that he wouldn’t have to keep sneaking into Myrtles bathroom all the time. Translating what Stheno had said quickly before glancing to make sure that Daphne and Tracey were okay with the idea and receiving a pair of eager nods, Harry turned back to Stheno with a grin on his face.

 

“Sure Stheno, where do you think we should go first?”

 

Time Skip-

 

Whilst Hogwarts was, for all legal intents and purposes, a boarding school, the attendance of many of Britain's magical nobility along with a blanket ban on the attendance of personal security staff meant there had long been traditions in place for family meetings to occur at the school. These could either be at the bequest of a student or the parents/family head/guardian of said student, with specialised meeting rooms set up close to each of the house common rooms to accommodate the meetings in privacy.

 

These rooms were amongst the most heavily warded in all of Hogwarts, designed both to aid privacy and also to increase the security of Hogwarts for the protection of its students. The door to the room could only be opened by a professor from outside the room itself, and if that wasn't enough the walls and doorframe were warded to prevent anyone who wasn't a current student of Hogwarts leaving the room into the castle. There were similar enchantments on the fireplace to prevent a student from leaving the castle using it, willingly or otherwise.

 

These protections were in place for a variety of reasons; to prevent homesick students from trying to floo home without warning; angry parents from trying to break into the school to hex someone who had jilted their child; and the most importantly from the view point of the staff who had originally formed the wards to prevent the forceful abduction of students and clan/family heirs by those who would wish them ill. The wards and regular sweeping by the faculty staff also had another advantage that had been unintended but beneficial for the school’s reputation, the audience rooms were some of the most secure and private meeting places in Europe.

 

Which was advantageous to say the least, Daphne thought as she wrestled nervously with one of the long braids Tracey had just helped her tie off in an attempt to neaten up her hair, given her parents had requested such a meeting with her. The pair of them and Astoria had just returned from a couple of hours of spell practice and exploration in the Chamber of Secrets, under Stheno's and Har...Potter's watchful eyes, when professor Snape called her into his office and told her that there was to be a meeting at seven o'clock the next night. She was mentally correcting herself every time she said heir Potter's first name as she needed to get into the habit, not only was it improper but also potentially dangerous for her if she accidentally said aloud without thinking.

 

Daphne dragged herself back, knowing she had just tried to distract herself from the upcoming meeting. Giving up on the unruly braid as a lost cause, Daphne set off from where she had been stood, just outside her dorm room, walking quickly down the long corridor that branched off for each year group. As she approached the common room Daphne tried to regain her usual sense of decorum, something she had  lost as she panicked over why her parents wanted to talk to her so close to Christmas.

 

Daphne knew the main reason of course, the offending object in question having become a new part of her attire regardless of where she was and what she was doing, but she had hoped word would have taken longer to leave Hogwarts and reach them... Preferably after she had returned home and broken the news to them gently. It was only now that Daphne noticed that her right hand had taken to twirling the bracer round her left wrist, the calming coolness that emanated from the dark blue diamond in the middle of the unknown metal preventing her from removing her hand from it straight away.

 

It wasn't that Daphne was upset over the gift from the young Gryffindor, how could she after how useful it had been for her over the last three days. There was just a cautious voice in her head that warned her not to get too close to the surprisingly nice and accepting Light Golden Boy as he was referred to disparagingly by those in her friends that were too cultured or polite to use actual swear words. The boy had a knack for finding dangerous adventures without even trying to, being involved in every major incident that had occurred at Hogwarts since their arrival in first year willingly or otherwise.

 

He had told the three Slytherins about the events of his first and second year with an air that screamed that he thought fighting dark wizards and dangerous monsters was a normal thing for him to do, something that made Daphne realise that the boy would end up in the limelight of events for years to come just because he couldn’t stand by and not try and protect people in any way he could. Such was the popularity and press coverage that such an attitude would attract once he was out of the protective walls of the castle, those he would associate with would be given some of that attention as well, risking the discovery of her powers even more than she had with her poor emotional control.

 

As she entered the main common room and walked over to where Professor Snape was waiting for her, Daphne had to beat down the warm feeling that built up in her chest and threatened to dust her cheeks at the thoughts of the boy. Potter was not the type to care about such things, given his limited experience with the media and the fickle beast which was public opinion, so Daphne could tell that he wouldn't let others opinions change what he thought about her, something she could say about very few people.

 

But it wasn't just her and her friends that she had to worry about, there was her family name and honour to worry about, something that would undoubtedly brought up again this evening. Professor Snape merely nodded his head in greetings to her before turning on his heel and muttering the password to open the common room entrance. The pair of them strode out into the corridor in companionable silence, neither having ever liked the idea of meaningless chatting to fill the void. The rooms were barely 100 yards from the entrance down the main dungeon corridor, four doors that could not be any less assuming or plain, another minor but important security feature that prevented curious students from attempting anything other than the occasional tug of the handle.

 

Standing to the side of the door as Professor Snape placed his hand against the door to deactivate the security wards, Daphne could feel the nervousness growing in her belly once more, what if she had caused major trouble for her family with the rumours about her bracer? Had one of the other noble heirs said something in a letter to their parents? After a moment the door swung open silently and Professor Snape moved to the opposite side of the door with a single billowing step, turning and facing her way with the slight smile that he reserved solely for 'his snakes', when there was no one else around to see him ruin his image as a cantankerous bastard of course.

 

"There you are Heir Greengrass, you have until curfew for your meeting, so there is no need to rush. I will leave you here and be in my office if you need me, just use the mirror like I showed you all." It was the closest the professor had ever come to being considered 'caring' but Daphne knew that the man was not a social person by any means and adamantly believed in personal self-reliance abound all else. So comparatively it was a very kind gesture from him, something she felt she had to respond to verbally to avoid appearing ungrateful.

 

"Thank you Professor, I will ensure that I am back well in time before curfew, I doubt my parents will require my presence for more than two hours." With a curt nod he herded inside without another word before closing the door behind her, leaving her alone with her thoughts whilst she waited for her parents to floo through the ornate fireplace on the far wall. The room was only modestly furnished with a set of grand arm chairs and a long low table set between them, nothing like the luxurious furnishings that made up the Greengrass manor function room, but it had a comfortable feel to it that was welcoming for those who wished for some family time.

 

With nothing else to do until her parents arrived, Daphne settled herself in one of the armchairs and started an exercise that Stheno had taught her, with Harry acting as a translator of course. Raising her left hand, Daphne closed her eyes and concentrated on her power, doing her utmost to control the flow of her magic so that it would only pass up into her hand and not into the air around her. The aim of the exercise was for her to gain a better understanding of what her power felt like in comparison to her ‘normal’ magic, as well as to teach her how to focus it for more delicate tasks than creating ice rinks and freezing people to desks.

 

This exercise would eventually allow her to create anything she visualised in her head from ice in a few seconds, but that was a long way off happening in reality, all she could manage at the moment was a block of ice rising slowly from her hand for a few centimetres before it would crack and fracture. Each time she did it though it helped calm her immensely, losing herself in the feelings of cold and calm she was immersed in. Daphne was so lost in the task that when a familiar voice spoke in front of her and off to her right she actually jumped slightly in her seat.

 

“You have really improved since the summer, barely any frost around you when you did that.” Her father, ever the clinical observationalist was stood next to the fireplace, the soot still settling around him evidence that he had only just stepped through the floo. With a wave of his wand he vanished both the soot and the ice on the floor, Daphne having dropped it when she had been startled, before the man took a half step to the left in a practised fashion. She knew why he had done so, it was something of a family tradition as her mother flew out of the floo into his firm but gentle grip, the pair of them so practiced at the manoeuvre that it merely looked like Mrs Greengrass had stepped from the fireplace into her husband's embrace.

 

Her mother took a few moments to regain her balance and wits, but even as she did so her eyes were observing the room and more importantly Daphne. Daphne wouldn’t say that her parents were unemotional, such a notion would be entirely untrue, but both of her parents were keen observers of their surroundings and people’s behaviour, as such they were subconsciously shielded their expressions, even in private to a certain extent. Not that the reservations made her mother’s hugs less crushing Daphne thought to herself a little childishly, as her mother moved across to do exactly what she always did, an all-encompassing hug followed by some motherly prodding and picking.

 

"You look like you have lost some weight blossom, are you feeding yourself enough? And I see you have brought this bracer that has quickly become the teatime gossip point, you would not know how many times over the last few days..." A quiet cough and the sound of the floo activating again stopped her mother from carrying on with her tirade of words, the woman pulling back to allow Daphne to see who the other arrival was, the sight of him bringing a smile to her face before she curtsied politely.

 

"Lord Vasquez, I must admit that I am surprised but pleased to see you again, I hope that attending this meeting did not detract from your time with your family." The Spanish born man chuckled whilst he brushed off his long flowing robes that were items related to the rank he held on the continent, a high ranked elemental Mage in the service of the royal family there. When Daphne's elemental powers had begun to show at the age of 6 her parents had quickly and quietly sought help from abroad to help them realise how to help their daughter with her powers.

 

Vasquez had heard of their plight and had stepped in, the outspoken and boisterous fire elemental quickly making himself a key part to the little family group during his frequent training visits. He was the reason that Daphne and Astoria had been able to attend Hogwarts, having trained them in how to help control their powers and also in how to minimise their outbursts should the worst happen and they lose control at the wrong time. Whilst Daphne was pleased to see the man she thought of as an erstwhile uncle, his presence meant that her parents had arranged his attendance when they booked the meeting with Professor Dumbledore which made this meeting even more serious than she had imagined.

 

“Little one, there is no need to be so formal around me, you are not in trouble in the slightest I promise. Though I am intrigued, you are clearly nervous but I am not seeing any signs of lack of control, I wonder whether this is a new development or something I missed over the summer.” The man’s accent was barely present, a slight tinge of a lilt on a few syllables the only sign that the man was not a naturally raised Englishman, even as he raised the staff he carried around and cast a spell on himself.

 

It was a spell Daphne was familiar with even if he wouldn't teach it her until she had better control over her powers as well as passing her OWL’s, it granted the caster a form of sight that allowed them to see the flows of magic around them, something that meant that the game was up as his eyes immediately jumped to the bracer and he gained a bit of an awed expression on his face. Her father also noticed the Spaniard's expression, eyes shifting to the bracer and then to Daphne’s own before he spoke evenly in his usual way, his tone direct and Brooking no argument in its own subtle way even as Vasquez stepped forward and knelt down to look at her bracer in closer detail.

 

“I take it given Nacho’s reaction to the bracer that it is in fact more than a mere piece of jewellery that you have gotten for yourself? Perhaps you have something you wish to tell us Daphne?" Knowing there was no way out of the situation without revealing at least some of the truth, Daphne nodded her head and indicated her arm with the bracer attached.

 

"The bracer is a gift from a new friend of mine, he knew that it would help me regulate my powers and so he gave it to me as a simple gift, nothing more than that I promise." The last bit was tagged on in response to her father’s eyes narrowing at the male pronoun, but it was better to get that out in the open now rather than try and hide it. Vasquez looked up at her with a mixture of annoyance and awe on his face, speaking before either of her parents had a chance to talk.

 

"This friend of yours just happened to have a dwarf forged bracer with enough runes around the central stone that it would take me months if not years to work out the mechanisms of it? You either have the most belligerent friend of your generation or he truly had no idea of the worth of this artifact." Daphne couldn’t stop the blush that reached her cheeks this time as both her parents looked physically shocked at the exclamation, but she quickly shook her head before attempting to clarify things.

 

“My friend is muggle raised, though he has recently found an area of the castle that has long been unused and this was in it. He checked with the relevant people and when he found out it could help my condition.” She paused for a second to duck forwards as Vasquez tried too lightly swat her head, something he did every time she used a word like condition to describe her powers, he didn’t like the insinuation that their powers were negative rather than positive. “He gave it to me without a thought because he knew it would help. That’s just who he is I suppose, it’s not like he is short of money anyways.”

 

Everything she had said was true in its own way, just not in the way her parents would interpret it of course. Whilst Stheno had required everyone bar Harry to magically swear never to divulge her survival to anyone, Harry had not really required them to keep anything about it a secret, probably because revealing anything would work out worse for them than it would for him. With her revelation about her new friend the meeting turned to discussion of her powers and how the bracer was helping her control them, intermixed with probing questions from her parents about the identity of her new friend that she did her best to answer without giving anything away about him that would lead them to deduce it was Harry.

 

Daphne knew she would have to ensure that Astoria didn’t give anything away in her letters home from now on, whilst her sister was one of the nicest people she had ever met, due to the fact the wind tended to tell her all manner of secrets about people the girl had never truly understood the need for secrecy. After about an hour the conversation turned to the topic she dreaded more than anything else, brought up by her mother with a knowing look on her face.

 

“So we have had contact from your betrothed, Louis was very interested to hear about the bracer and was wondering if you had found someone else that had your interest?” Daphne cringed at the question, Louis Montfaucon was a wealthy and powerful heir of the French Noble house of Montfaucon, nobility that stretched back to before the Norman invasion of Britain. At almost a decade older than her Louis had been allowed to arrange his own betrothal by his father the Count de Montbeliard after the unfortunate passing of his previous intended when he had been 15. He had offered the betrothal to her family and given the man’s standing and nature her father had agreed, more to prevent one of the British families from forcing him into a betrothal contract than anything else.

 

Daphne had long suspected there was something about the betrothal that she had not been told about, it certainly did not seem to be quite the serious affair that many of the other young heirs she had interacted with over the years were dealing with. Especially not with the teasing lilt that entered her parents tone every time she interacted with another male on more than a passing basis, but she supposed that could just be her parents being their usual eccentric selves. She shook her head slowly, not entirely sure of her own answer this time.

 

“There is nothing going on mother, I will honour the agreement between our families when the time comes.” Her unsurety seemed to have bled into the air around her as her father smiled slightly before seeming to refrain a comment that would have undoubtedly shamed her even further. Her mother gave her a long hard look for a few seconds before nodding her head slowly and pulling out an official piece of parchment.

 

“I am glad to hear that blossom, but I think with the magnitude of the gift you have been given becoming apparent I will need to hear this from the boy in question himself. I wish for you to give him this invite to our Spring Equinox ball, no buts now dear. It will be a masquerade ball as usual, so if he employs some suitable cosmetic charms and a suitable mask then you have no fear of giving away your little secret. He will just need to put some magic into the card and then you do the same, send it back to us and he will be able to attend.” Daphne wanted to argue, she really did, but given her mother’s stubborn nature and the fact her father was nodding his head in agreement meant that she could do little but give Harry a possible out if he needed it.

 

“I will relay this to him but I cannot guarantee his attendance, his family may have their own celebrations that he is meant to be partaking in.” That seemed to be enough to placate her parents for now, talk returning to family matters and the dress that Daphne would be wearing for the Yuletide ball that the Malfoy’s would be hosting on the 26th. Thoughts of Christmas, being only three days away after all, would normally make Daphne the most excitable she was all year, but the invitation in her pocket was like a lead weight upon her mood. How was she going to persuade Harry to come to an event like that to face her parents and intended’s inquisition?

 

**A/N: One of the most dangerous parts about fanfiction writing is not necessarily trying to stick true to the canon throughout, that’s the point of the fanfic to deviate from that, but it is to remember that your story is not set in a timeless world, days pass and yearly events happen, such as Christmas (which I completely forgot about until trying to work out which ball I could actually get Harry to attend for this chapter.)**

 

**Luckily I hadn’t actually shot myself in the foot with my previous chapters and missed Christmas entirely, an event that will be quite different with Ron not talking to the other members of the golden trio and Daphne needing to talk to Harry about the ball and personal issues, not to mention Buckbeak’s appeal and the firebolt thing. For those that wish to know, i am working on the basis that this chapter is written for the date of the 21st of December, which means that actually we have only covered 3 days thus far in this story... better get a move on! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and let me know what you think.**

  
**Until Next Time.**


	7. Another Trip to the Chamber

"You want me to do what?!?" Harry felt that his rather loud exclamation was justified, though the startled look on Daphne's face as she jerked back a little from him meant it hadn't been entirely expected by her. Tracey's giggles broke the rather awkward moment, the red headed Slytherin sat on one of the chairs they had moved down from one of the unused classrooms in an attempt to make the chamber a little more habitable.

 

"Told you that he would freak out Daphne, I wouldn't worry about it Harry, the solstice ball is one of the smallest events of the year, and there will only be three hundred or so families there at most." Three hundred families, that was a small event? His disbelief obviously showed on his face or something as Daphne, who had been watching him tentatively, shook her head and held up a hand to make Tracey pause.

 

"Not helping Tracey, I don't think that heir Potter is going to like the idea of any event that has so many people attending. But I get the feeling that my parents have already told everyone you will be attending and I really don't want to disappoint them. You won't have to do anything but dance a couple of times I promise, I will make sure of it." Harry still didn't like the idea, he highly doubted he ever would, but there was a small part of his mind that was pointing out that this would be the first time people would be interested in him as Harry rather than the Boy-Who-Lived, given that they wouldn't know that it was him in the first place. It made him nervous and excited at the same time, something he tried to downplay as he did his best to deflect the problem entirely.

 

"But I don't know how to dance or act at one of these things, what happens if I make a complete idiot of myself? Won't that reflect badly on you?" Daphne didn't even pause as she seemed to relax at the question and stepped a little closer to him with a sort of begging smile on her face.

 

"We have three months or so before the ball, no one will expect you to be perfect and I can teach you a lot in that time." Daphne made it sound like he had nothing else he needed to work upon in the meantime, which given his every increasingly hectic fortnight since Christmas Day was definitely not the case.

 

*Flashback*

 

Waking up early as he always did, Harry sat up and rubbed his eyes only to find a very obvious broom shaped object amongst the pile of presents at the end of his bed. The surprise present, which was a life saver given the fate that befell his Nimbus 2000,  hadn’t filled him with the excitement that he had once expected it to give him, especially when a cautious examination of the package whilst he levitated it showed no sign of a note or indication of who might have sent it.

 

After what happened with Ginny and the diary last year, as well as the fact that he had a mass murderer after his head, Harry was not going to take any chances with regards to any of presents. He knew it might be a bit paranoid of him but after putting the broom back down, off to one side away from his other presents, he quickly got dressed and headed down to the common room. With most of the house going home for Christmas he was the only one up at this point, meaning that when he approached the portrait off to one side of the common room that he knew linked to another portrait in Professor McGonagall’s quarters it was still asleep. Rousing it had made the inhabitant grumpy to say the least and he heard several Gaelic words he guessed were not repeatable in public at any point, but the elderly witch whose portrait was her home had quickly gone to relay his message when she realised who it was who had roused her as well as why he was concerned.

 

When he looked back at this later, Harry realised this had been probably the true breaking point in his and Ron’s best friend status, when he and Professor McGonagall hurried up to the third year boy’s dormitory 15 minutes later, to allow her to check the packaging of the object for possible dark charms and then of course the broom itself. Opening the door in order to carry out the check as quietly as possible, they instead found Ron holding the broom in his hands and looking at it admiringly, seemingly not caring that he had opened one of Harry’s presents without checking with him or Harry even having been present.

 

Harry supposed that it was probably due to his past at the Dursley’s and his possessions before the age of 11 being next to nothing, but the redhead’s actions had lit a fire in his belly even as Ron turned to look at him with the same stupid grin the redhead always wore when he was in possession of something he coveted.

 

“Oh, hi mate, you got a firebolt for Christmas, can I ha...” Whatever Ron intended to say next was cut off by a stunning spell from Professor McGonagall, the spell more powerful than was probably intended as it not only knocked the boy out but threw him back against the wall as well. The normally stoic and controlled head of house was more furious than Harry had ever seen her, wand hand shaking slightly as she muttered something under her breath before turning to Harry.

 

“Foolish, ignorant boy! When he wakes up he is going to be scrubbing cauldrons for the rest of the year! I assume he was not up when you came to fetch me?” Harry managed to reign in his anger enough to belated comprehend her question and shake his head, the Scottish witch’s mouth thinning even further as she gathered all of the ripped open wrapping with a wave of her wand before levitating both it and Ron with practised ease. “Mr Potter, I will be taking Mr Weasley to the hospital wing to be checked for possible compulsions or other dark enchantments that may have been on the wrapping to cause him to in effect steal one of your Christmas presents, if you could levitate the broom and follow me it would be best if we left before the rest of the house awake.”

 

The Scottish burr that heavily inflected some of the words in that sentence made Harry realise quite how much trouble Ron was going to be in if there weren’t any dark spells found on the wrapping or on his person. Harry was happy it was just the two of them in the dorm room over Christmas as it would have made the situation a lot more difficult if Seamus and Dean were here. After flooing the still unconscious Ron to the Hospital wing and taking the wrapping and firebolt to McGonagall’s office, the professor had insisted on returning to Harry’s dorm room to check the rest of his presents, just in case a second mysterious package had made it through the Hogwart’s wards...

 

*Flashback end*

 

The secret about the firebolt had only lasted until Ron’s return to the main hall that evening, the second youngest Weasley beyond furious with Harry not only for the month of detentions that he had gotten for messing with another student’s belongings but also the fact that the firebolt was being checked not only by McGonagall and Flitwick, but also Professor Sinistra and Professor Snape. The recently healed bruise on Harry’s left cheek was the most poignant reminder of Ron’s temper, the furious redhead getting in a good three or four blows on the surprised Harry before being blasted across the room by Hermione and the Slytherin student who had been one of the few other students to remain over Christmas. The assault in front of pretty much every member of staff in the castle had earned him another 2 weeks of detention, as well as causing Ron to be moved to one of the solitary rooms inside the house as it had become clear his anger towards Harry had not abated in the slightest.

 

The detentions as well as the fact that Harry and Hermione spent most of their waking hours in the library or practicing in one of the abandoned classrooms meant that further interactions were limited to meal times, something Harry was glad for as the second youngest Weasley had not abated in his glaring or foul language in the slightest. Their reason for staying in the library all of the time had to do with Hagrid and the trial against Buckbeak, but Harry was growing increasingly despondent over the hope of getting the noble creature out of its precarious situation given the history of magical creatures being slaughtered almost without a care.

 

Such had been his daily routine until the 2nd of January, when the Hogwarts express had pulled back into Hogsmeade, and with it the return of the hustle and bustle Harry had actually missed. The other Gryffindors had pretty much unilaterally sided with Harry about what Ron had done, though Oliver Wood was still bemoaning the potential loss of such a brilliant broom every time he saw Harry. The rumour mill was of course now concentrating instead on the two packages that Harry had gotten that he had not let McGonagall take away for testing, despite the fact they had both only been signed Fang smasher, he knew who they were from but given his stalwart determination to not tell anyone who it was and what he had been sent there were various guesses based on the words.

 

The idea that the presents were from the Dark Force Defence League, who had heard of his exploits against Slytherin’s monster the year before and inducted him into their group over the summer was laughable, but it was one of the more realistic ideas that Harry had heard about over the last few days. The two books, _Elemental spells and their uses_ and _Offensive Defences, for those enemies you just hate_ , were seemingly unauthored, but given the reverence and excitement that Hermione had demonstrated when he had eventually given in to her repeated questioning about the presents, they were very valuable and the perfect things for him to learn from given the threat of Sirius Black hanging over his head.

 

But given the obvious value of the presents and the fact that he hadn’t gotten either of them anything made refusing to go this dance all that much harder on his conscience, something that he expected the two Slytherin’s had planned with their presents being what they were. He was drawn from his thoughts by a polite cough from a demure looking Daphne, who wrung her hands in front of her in an obviously nervous gesture.   
  


“So will you attend Heir... Harry? I promise that there will not be any pressing questions about you, my parents just want to know that you meant nothing romantically by giving me the bracer.” Harry doubted that would be all that would be asked, but he knew a losing battle when he saw one and therefore with a heavy sigh he nodded his head.

  
“Fine, I will come, but you need to teach me how to dance and act at least passingly by the end of February for this to work. And we need to work out what I am going to put on the invitation slip that we will send off to your parents, I mean it has to be something that I will recognise as only regarding me.” There was a hissing noise at this signalling the approach of Stheno, the basilisk obviously having just finished devouring the two roast pigs that Harry had shrunk and taken from the great hall during the lunchtime meal that day. Nobody had seemed to notice the disappearance, given that there was still enough food there to feed more than 80 people.

 

 _“In regards to this, I would advise using the Slytherin name Fang Smasher rather than some made up name, from what I know of the enchantments regarding to such events the wards will not allow such attempts to hide your identity in case you are a risk to one of the guests or the family.”_ Stheno’s words were poignant and rather surprising, enough that Harry didn’t immediately translate what the ancient serpent had said for Daphne and Tracey, instead prioritising the most pertinent question racing through his head.

 

“What do you mean, using the Slytherin name? How could I possibly do that if I am not related to him?” Stheno did her usual chuckling hiss even as he felt the room get a little colder, a sign of Daphne’s surprise at his outburst. The snake turned and inclined her head back towards the rooms of Slytherin and his descendants.

 

 _“Unlike you foolish wizards these days, Slytherin and the other founders didn’t trust goblins in the slightest, in fact the founders fought a personal war against several of the goblin clans in order to protect Hogwarts and the surrounding lands soon after they finished constructing it, to protect the dwarves that had helped with the construction. Therefore proof of being an heir of Slytherin has always been proved by two facts, just the same with the other founder’s heirs over the years. To be able to speak the lower snake tongue is merely one of them, the other is to be able to summon and wear his ring, something that I have no doubt you will be able to do with both his magic and my venom running through your veins.”_ Harry had been translating what Stheno was saying in parallel with the great snakes words, the silence from the two normal inquisitive Slytherins only breached by the scratching sound of quill on parchment, Tracey obviously carrying out her threat of writing a book about the history of Hogwarts and it’s founders. Daphne finally asked the question that Harry was trying to work out how to say in a suitable manner.

 

“But Stheno, what about the dark lord, wouldn’t he have the ring given he is Slytherin’s heir? And how would you summon it, I imagine it would be no easy task?” Stheno shook his head hurriedly before speaking in a slightly more angry tone.

 

“ _The boy who would become your Lord Voldemort was not interested in such practices, the practice of summoning the ring was lost during the time of the great plague, the same time when knowledge of the Chamber disappeared. He was only interested in gaining power and learning the lost arts, heritage to him was only a stepping stone to gaining followers. And summoning the ring isn’t particularly difficult, why would you make it so? Fang Smasher, come and stand in the centre of the chamber and repeat the words in the snake tongue, ‘I, blood of the Slytherin clan and rightful heir, claim the ring of my house as mine by right.’”_ It seemed almost too easy in Harry’s opinion, but he was not going to complain when something seemed to be going his way for once without all of the difficulties that usually came with such boons. Doing as Stheno had instructed, Harry started speaking the words, the feeling of power that came with them filling his entire body and making him feel giddy with the rush.

 

That changed a moment later however as the energy left him in a rush and took an alarming amount of his own magic with him, forcing him to one knee as if Hagrid had just given him another ‘friendly’ pat on the shoulders. There was a feeling of something around his index finger on his left hand, but all other thoughts drifted away as the last of the magic drain caused him to pitch onto the floor and his vision darkening, Daphne’s shocked cry the last thing he heard before unconsciousness claimed him entirely.

 

**A/N: I’m back!!! Sort of, anyways. Quick chapter to cover Christmas day and the different route I took the firebolt present down, I hope people agree that it is a slightly more reasonable view on Harry would have treated such an auspicious present given he has just found out that Sirius Black is after his head and was the betrayer of his parents.**

 

**Ron, oh what am I going to do with you... I apologise if you like Ron as a character but I have always seen him as a stubborn bad influence on Harry up to and including the majority of 6th year. Everything from causing Harry to choose Divination and almost religiously trying to drag him down academically to the events in GOF, if it weren’t for the fact I am refusing to do an Evil Dumbledore fic I would entirely be on board with Ron being a plant to keep harry weak. And getting into a fight with Harry over the map only to forget all about it when a new broom comes along is the sort of thing that I imagine Ron doing without even realising what he is doing is really shallow and wrong.**

 

**Phew, Ron rant over with, apologies about that. The Slytherin ring thing is just something that I came up with, but I like the idea of the founders being at odds with not only the goblins but other magical groups. It also gets rid of the stupid thing that often happens in these fics, where Harry finds himself heir to one of the founders and goes to Gringotts to find himself stupidly rich due to ‘interest’. Everything the Founders may have owned will have gone into Hogwarts, or been sold or squandered by their many successors, what is in the chamber being a minor exception.**

 

**In regards to the Chamber being lost to myth, I think the black plague is a perfect excuse as to why the knowledge disappears, especially with my timeline of the Lord Slytherin of the time dying at the battle of Halidon Hill (1333), probably along with many of the adult males of his line. When the plague hit Britain properly in 1350, the Slytherin line would not have had much time to recover from those losses and therefore it is possible to hypothesise that all of those that knew the secret of the Chamber would have died without being able to pass the information along, leaving only those of only distant lines or bastard children to continue the Slytherin heritage (such as the Gaunts.)**

  
**Hope you like it, review, favourite so on and so forth. See you all next time.**


	8. Old Men and their foibles

Harry Potter and the Elemental Tale Chapter 8: Old Men and their Foibles

 

Harry awoke sharply and found himself staring up at the now familiar white coloured ceiling of the hospital wing. He couldn’t have been here for long, given that it was still light outside, either that or he had been in for a night at least. A familiar voice caused Harry to look to the end of the bed, his vision blurry without his glasses, but the bright colours and long beard reassured him that it was in fact Professor Dumbledore who was speaking.

  
“Well my boy, quite the little adventure you got yourself into once again, Madame Pomfrey was very shocked to find you unconscious outside the medical wing two hours ago, suffering from a rather specific case of magical exhaustion.” Reaching to his left, Harry found his glasses in their usual place where Madame Pomfrey always placed them, putting them on in time to see Dumbledore’s usual twinkle eyed gaze dim a bit as he gestured to Harry’s arm or more specifically his hand.

  
“After its loss at the battle of Halidon hill when the Lord Slytherin at the time had foolishly believed his magic enough to protect the army of Scots he was leading from the arrows of the English, that ring has almost been forgotten from the annals of history, except by those few old men who have delved into the histories of the castle they serve. I wonder Harry, or should I say lord Slytherin, how did you come by such a wonderful artefact? In the same manner as Ms Greengrass probably given your repeated trips to the Chamber over the last few weeks...” The twinkle returned full force as Harry tried to work out how the headmaster knew about both his and Daphne’s friendship and their trips to the chamber, Dumbledore chuckling for a couple of moments before holding his hands up in an obvious placating gesture.

 

“You will have to forgive this old man his foibles, it is most enjoyable to be able to pull one over today’s youth, even though being headmaster does tend to make such efforts much easier. Whilst this castle holds many secrets that I have yet to uncover, what goes on inside a room I specifically warded to alert me in case people started to show an unhealthy interest is much less of a mystery. I imagine that upon searching the chamber thoroughly you and your new friends have found these artefacts that Tom missed when he was here?” Harry doubted that Dumbledore didn’t believe there was more going on than he was implying with his words, the man always seemed to know more than was physically possible, but that wasn’t going to stop Harry from grabbing the offered get out clause with both hands.

 

“Yes sir, there were several rooms down in the chambers that I don’t think Riddle found given the fact they were so dust covered it took us almost an hour to vanish all of it. I have to ask sir, if you knew that I was going down there with the others, why didn’t you stop us?” Everything Harry said was true, there were several rooms down the various passageways like that, though the inference that that was where they had found the bracer and ring was something that he was happy to leave as just that. Dumbledore smiled again and Harry had to admit the man’s all-knowing smugness was slightly irritating to say the least, he could understand why the man so infuriated Fudge and Malfoy in the Wizengamot.

 

“With you having defeated the basilisk last year and destroyed the diary, as well as the stress of Mr Blacks attack on Halloween merely doing your best to make some new friends and do a bit of slightly more harmless adventuring than normal, for your standards anyway my boy. I am sure that if there was something dangerous down in the chamber, you would be quick to tell me? " There was a glint in the old mans eyes again even as he gave Harry a really unsubtle wink. Before Harry could say anything, Dumbledore stood from his seat with a warm smile.

 

"Enough of this old man taking all of your time, I imagine there are people who will be quite happy to hear of your recovery. Including a rather excitable first year, who managed to not only get all of my names correct, But also knew what I wanted for Christmas. The wonders of magic never cease to surprise me." Taking the out offered to him, Harry was about to bid Dumbledore goodbye when the manic grinning Sirius Black popped into his head.

 

"Professor, would it be possible for me to come and speak to you further about Black? After Halloween and the possibility of him sending the firebolt to me I think I am going to take things seriously in case he attacks again." It was probably the first time Harry remembered catching Dumbledore off guard, the elderly wizards genial expression falling into a look of concern as his eyes fixed on Harry in a calculating manner completely at odds with his usual twinkling all-knowing gaze. But in a fraction of a second it was gone and the grandfatherly smile was back with a vengeance as Dumbledore nodded his head once more.

 

"Of course Harry, but I wouldn't worry about Mr Black if I were you, the enhanced security measures will be more than enough to deter him from trying again I am sure." Whilst it was probably considered unruly behaviour Harry couldn't help but cast a look of disbelief at the headmaster at his response. Harry knew some of his problems had been his own causing in his time at Hogwarts, but even so he was starting to just assume when teachers told him things were going to be fine that he was going to end up on another life threatening adventure. He was probably being paranoid but the conversation Hermione had overheard meant that Black was probably going to be trying to get him again regardless of any new security.

 

Despite this Harry wasn't going to try and press that point right now, he definitely needed to be a bit more awake for that particular conversation. With Dumbledore gone Harry had a minute or so of calm before the hospital wing doors burst open heralding the arrival of his 'well Wishers', Hermione leading the small group and judging by the furious expression on her face Harry would be lucky if he got away with some extra studying and managing some O's on his schoolwork to make it up to her this time. Ginny, Colin and the majority of the Quidditch team were following behind her but Harry didn’t spare them a glance as Mount Hermione erupted.

 

“Harry James Potter!” Harry couldn’t help but wince despite the fact that Hermione hadn’t even raised her voice when she hissed his name out, shouting Hermione wasn’t anywhere near as bad as a quietly furious witch. The fact she had been stressed by her self-inflicted workload even before this and the trouble with Ron just meant that it would be worse for Harry. The others stopped a fair few feet back from the end of the bed, an obvious sign that he wasn’t going to be getting any help from them here. Drawing upon his vaunted Gryffindor courage, Harry waved his hand weakly and did his best to look absolutely penitent.

 

“Er, Hi Hermione, guys. I swear I am fine...” He trailed off under Hermione’s withering glare as the bushy haired witch folded her arms, frantically trying to work out what he could say to get himself out of trouble this time. It clicked as the muffled sniggers from one of the Weasley twins was cut off with a sharp impact and muttered moan of pain and he managed to look Hermione in the eyes for the first time since she entered as he said his piece.

 

“Sorry Hermione, I don’t mean to keep worrying all of you by doing stupid things, I will definitely be more careful from now on. I would say that I will do my best to avoid trouble, but I think we all know that I have nothing to do with the amount of trouble that finds me.” Whilst the others all made noises of amusement at his final statement Hermione’s stony gaze remained, and for a moment Harry thought that it didn’t matter what he said he was going to be verbally drawn and quartered regardless. Then Hermione cracked and threw her arms up in exasperation for a moment, her face turning to a smile as she moved forwards and gave him a hug, a type of hug that was only matched by Mrs Weasley in terms of bone crushing force.

 

“Of course you don’t mean to do stupid things you idiot, which is why they are called stupid...” Her voice was muffled into Harry’s shoulder but Harry could hear the emotion in Hermione’s voice and knew that she was probably going to tear up in a minute, something that meant he had scared her even more than he thought given her dislike of showing her emotional outbursts. He cast a look to Ginny and was pleasantly surprised when the youngest Weasley seemed to understand what he wanted as she gestured the others back before waving her wand and causing the curtains to close around his bed area.

 

“Professor Dumbledore won’t even tell us what happened, and with what I heard in Hogsmeade I was worried...” Hermione had now joined him on the bed, Harry doing his best to hold her in a half hug as she let her worries out with a small number of tears falling from her eyes and onto his hospital gown. Harry knew not to interrupt the crying or rambling mumbling from his best friend, it was better to just let her get it all out and then talk about it. It was nice despite the circumstances Harry thought, before Hogwarts he certainly wasn’t used to someone actually caring about his wellbeing.

 

A sudden cough broke the moment however before he could apologise for making her think that he had been attacked by Black or whatever terrible situation she had conjured up in her head. Madame Pomfrey was stood at the end of the bed, obviously having stepped through a moment before, her face set in a disapproving look even as Hermione hurriedly separated herself from him and stood from the bed.

 

“Mr Potter, at this rate you will be increasing the number of times you are in my care every year, ignoring the times you came and visited Ms Granger last year of course, this will not do. I won’t even ask how you managed to develop another case of severe magical exhaustion, given your large reserves for your age I wouldn’t have thought it possible once let alone twice, but for pretty much anyone else it would be deadly to do so.” That caused Harry’s eyes to widen, doubly so when Hermione smacked him on the shoulder, not hard enough to bruise but certainly enough to hurt him. Hermione then turned to the healer and fired off several questions.

 

“If it is so dangerous, why is Harry fine now? Is there anything that he needs to avoid doing over the next few days then? Is it okay if he does schoolwork and things like that if his magic is low?” Madame Pomfrey paused in casting diagnostic spells to look approvingly at Hermione, obviously happy at her concerned questions.

 

“Mr Potter is pretty much fine now due to... certain circumstances.” At this Madame Pomfrey looked pointedly at the ring on Harry’s finger for a moment before continuing, a look that Harry knew that Hermione wouldn’t have missed given her own side glance before Pomfrey spoke once more. “If anything his reserves are still growing above the average for his age. But perhaps Ms Granger you could take on something I have been reminding Mr Potter of everytime he is in here but he doesn’t seem to be doing anything about.” There was almost a wicked glint in the healer’s eyes as she said this and Harry’s stomach fell as he realised what she was talking about, this was definitely her unofficial punishment for ending up in the hospital wing again.

 

“Mr Potter has always been below average for his age in terms of height and weight, something that I know is not genetic having treated both of his parents whilst they were students here. Whilst I have previously tried to leave it to Mr Potter to sort out his bad eating habits without interference, I think it is time for us to take more serious measures. If you would follow me Ms Granger, I have what we need in my office...” Ignoring Harry’s pleading looks, Hermione nodded affirmatively and with a wave of the Matron’s wand the curtain almost screeched back to the sides of his bed area, allowing the two witches to stride off to the office at the end of the hospital wing whilst his other visitors approached cautiously, the twins leading with their usual troublemaking grins on their faces.

 

“It is always amusing Harry how, despite your peerless experience with dangerous situations...”

 

“Fighting trolls, terrible professors and ancient monsters not to mention the evils of schoolwork...”

 

“How much one little witch can frighten you without even raising her wand...” Both twins brought their arms up and made a whipping motion, making Harry’s cheeks redden in embarrassment for a moment before both twins got smacked over the head by Angelina and Alicia who were barely restraining their own grins as they did so. Katie Bell spoke up even as she moved up to give Harry a quick hug, the two youngest players having quickly bonded during their time on the team given that they had started in the same year.

 

“Like you two can talk, I don’t remember either of you backing Oli up when she overheard him talking with us about petitioning McGonagall to have her give the Firebolt back regardless of whether they had finished testing it. Also, wasn’t it you two who hid behind me when Oli stupidly said the three of you had been planning to break into her office to get it back if she said no?” The twin’s grins had disappeared at this reminder and Harry certainly couldn’t help but be impressed with how Katie had handled the twin terrors, muttering a muffled thanks that only she could hear before she pulled back from the hug. She gave him a quick wink and a mouthed ‘you owe me’ before she moved aside to let the other chasers in for their hugs, the team explaining that given some of Hermione’s threats Oliver was giving the young witch a wide berth for the moment, which explained why he wasn’t here right now.

 

He spent the next few minutes giving an abridged and rather false story of what had happened, exchanging the Chamber for an abandoned classroom and putting all of the blame for his exhaustion on his spell practicing whilst doing his best to hide his ring hand to avoid anyone else noticing. Whilst the older Quidditch team members seemed to buy his excuses he couldn’t say the same for Katie, Ginny or Hermione, who had returned with a large bottle containing a dark blue potion and a determined look in her eyes.

 

But it was to be expected given his ‘truly awful ability’ when it came to lying, or that was how Hermione put it anyways. Besides, given the amount of time he was going to be disappearing for in the next few months to fit with Daphne’s plan he would need some people in the know in order to keep people from getting suspicious. He just hoped that they would be understanding of his friendship with a Slytherin or two, but he could work that one out later. One by one the others made their goodbyes, an excitable Colin having to be almost physically dragged away by Angelina who seemed to understand that what was going to be discussed next would be private. Any questions Hermione had and was about to unleash now that they were now in private were waylaid when Ginny spoke up for the first time since she had greeted him quietly.

 

“You went to the chamber again...” Harry did a double take, he couldn’t really avoid doing so such was his surprise at Ginny’s deduction. Knowing his expression had given it away he nodded slowly and he had to ask.

 

“Yes, been quite a few times recently actually, how did you know Ginny?” The youngest Weasley pointed to his left, where his school robes were placed on a chair along with his other belongings.

 

“Your robes are wet and dusty, covered in spiders webs and what I think is mould. That is pretty much what was on my robes when i would wake from... That and if I had a secret area of the castle to go to that only I could get in with a mass murderer on the loose after me, that is where I would go. Hermione tends to talk a lot when she is worried about something.” She tagged the last bit on when Harry gave her a questioning look, the haunted look on her face as she spoke about her memories of the previous year nearly broke Harry’s heart and he opened an arm to allow her to move forwards and copy Hermione from before, snuggling up to him a way that very poignantly reminded Harry that whilst this was a girl haunted by her memories this was also a witch that had grown up with the dream of marrying him one day.

 

“What are you guys talking about, is this to do with Sirius Black? And you are talking about the Chamber of Secrets aren’t you? Is that where you battled Slytherin’s monster Harry?” Katie seemed to be the only one genuinely excited by Harry’s jaunts to the Chamber, having not been one of the few that Harry had told the truth about last year. He felt slightly bad about that but hadn’t wanted to let anyone know about Ginny’s possession unless strictly necessary. Now that it was out in the open however Harry didn't think it was worth trying to hide things, Katie was definitely someone he knew he could trust with this. Thus the tale of his descent into the chamber and fighting Stheno and Riddles diary was quickly abridged as Harry could see Hermione was bursting with questions that were unrelated.

 

As he finished with the meeting in Dumbledore's office Hermione’s patience ended as she burst out with the question that had obviously been bugging her since his revelation that he had been down in the chamber.

 

"But if that's the case how did you get from there to the hospital wing if you had magical exhaustion? And don't think I buy defensive training for a moment Harry, you only do that with me around, or you better have only been doing it with supervision. Besides I think it has more to do with the family ring you have been trying your best to hide for the last few minutes..." Hermione didn't ask a question about it but her tone certainly implied bad things if he continued to hold out on her. Ginny had grabbed his arm and pulled it up so she could look at the offending ring more closely.

 

"A family ring? But it doesn't look anything like the Potter signet ring..." Ginny's comment ended in a slight eep noise as all eyes focussed on her, but she buried her head in Harry's shoulder once more to avoid expanding on her detailed knowledge about his family jewels. With no out Harry decided to give in now before he was pressed further, this way they would probably let him get away with being somewhat vague.

 

"Yeah, it isn't my dad's, you guys have to promise not to tell anyone about what I say next, some people could get in trouble if this gets out..."

 

"I knew it!" Hermione coloured a little at her exclamation that was probably louder than she had meant it to be, but she pressed on regardless. "I knew there were others involved given how often you were sneaking off, this is why you were so protective of those Christmas presents when Professor McGonagall wanted to check them." Hermione was the happiest Harry had seen her in weeks, obviously this had been bugging her for some time. Katie chuckled and moved closer, obviously enjoying the opportunity to get some more information from him about his life off the quidditch pitch.

  
"Details Mr, as much as you can anyways, I always wanted to know a bit more about your adventures..."

 

**A/N: So, we have both our first introduction of one of the most contentious characters in HP fanfiction, Albus Dumbledore, as well as the introduction of Katie Bell to our story.**

**In my time reading fanfiction I have read everything from Dumbledore being an omnipotent saint (more during the time before HP 6+7 was published) who could do no wrong, to a senile dark lord doing a terrible job at hiding that fact from Harry and his friends… I hope that my Dumbledore will never get to the point of being like either of those as these tend to take away from the main characters of the fanfiction in question. Instead I am aiming for an old man who despite his power and fame wanted to be a teacher above all else, to replace the family that he doesn’t have (whether this is due to his sexual preference, losing them in the various wars or estrangement like happened with Aberforth I haven’t decided, feel free to state a preference.)**

**In regards to Katie, many people seem to forget that she is only one year older than Harry, primarily because all her interactions are with the other Gryffindor chasers. This means that she and Harry would have started on the Quidditch team in the same year and therefore been able to relate well about the issues with joining such a well-oiled team (as well as dealing with Oliver of course.) So I am having her as the slightly older friend that Harry can talk to about things that he might not be comfortable going to Hermione or the others with.**

**Let me know what you guys think, Review Away!!!!**


	9. Loose Lips in the Library

After a heavily edited story about the events of the Hogsmeade day up until the point where they had headed to the chamber, which was when Madame Pomfrey had bustled them all out of the hospital wing with a warning to Harry that she had better not see him again for the rest of the year, Harry promised the three girls that he would take them down to the Chamber at some point in the future. That had been a week ago and the girls had been rather persistent in reminding him of that promise ever since, the only time that he got a break was times like this when he was studying. Something he was very thankful for as he still had to work out how to break the news of Stheno to his friends without giving them a heart attack or them running off to tell the teachers.

Not that he could concentrate on that right now, as part of his attempt to get back in Hermione's good books as well as out of her hair as the after Christmas workload truly hit, Harry had been spending even more time over the last few days in the library than before. That had been the plan anyways, Harry had been there less than two hours only to be approached by a first year Ravenclaw who had asked in a quiet, slightly awed voice if he could come and give his study group a hand with some transfiguration work. Whilst Harry would like to claim that it had been his good natured selflessness that had caused him to agree, he knew it was more the opportunity to take a break from his potions homework that was appealing to him.

He was glad he had, as one of the study group members turned out to be none other than Astoria Greengrass, who whilst managing to maintain an aloof air when the other first years were present had obviously arranged for him to be the one that was asked for help with their schoolwork. The fact that the other first years thought that she wanted nothing to do with him despite this proved to Harry quite how dangerous proper Slytherins could be, meaning he had started trying to work out the other Slytherins in his year at dinner time. Previously he would have thought Draco his most dangerous adversary amongst the house of snakes, but now he realised he was just focussed on the most arrogant of the bunch.

So in order to have an excuse to hang out with and learn some more about the younger Greengrass Harry had agreed to spend an hour or so every day helping the young students, as long as they didn't tell anyone else that he was doing it. Whilst he knew not everyone held him up to the same candle, some of his more avid fans still scared him if he was around them for prolonged periods. As he started looking over the Ravenclaw's charms essay he almost missed the slim fingers grabbing his own essay and dragging it across the table, Astoria giving him a slight smile before she started reading his work, a friendly emotion that he was sure that the 'wind' was masking from the others around him.

Whilst the girl couldn't help him with the actual material like Hermione could, her diction and word range was much greater than his, meaning that she could check it for spelling and suggest different words or phrases for his essays before handing it back to him for him to rewrite. It really helped Harry, both in terms of his essay quality and his own grammatical ability, though he knew he would have to ask Daphne or Hermione to give him some structured help with that topic at some point if he really intended to better his ability in that field.

After another hour of studying and mentoring the other first years had left in dribs and drabs, Astoria making a very convincing half-hearted effort in an attempt to persuade the last one to stay in order to avoid being left alone with Potter, another Slytherin named Jedidiah Cross. However the young man seemed to find her perceived plight more amusing than concerning and had departed with a very Malfoyesque smirk plastered on his face, leaving the pair alone in one of the quieter sections of the library. With a nod from Astoria to assure him that Jedidiah had in fact left Harry began casting several charms that the trio of Slytherins had 'helped' him learn, most intended to limit the noise that escaped from the table and that entered, meaning that they could talk at full volume without the risk of Madam Pince coming down on their heads.

There was also a minor notice me not ward that Daphne had been rather insistent he learn when she found out about the study sessions in their after dinner meeting in the chamber to cover some basic etiquette and customs that Harry might need to know. The charm was not a particularly strong variant of the ward, but it was enough that anyone who was just passing wouldn't give them a second glance unless they were really paying attention and Harry had found something he could use to warn him of that in advance if it came to it. With all the spells in place, Astoria quickly stood and shifted her books round so that she was sat next to him rather than across from him, her face morphing into a relieved smile as she gave him a quick hug before pulling up a chair.

"Thank Merlin, I thought Jedidiah was never going to leave." Astoria turned to Harry and reached up to rub her cheeks, smile turning into an adorable pout. "I don't know how sis does it, my muscles are killing me from stopping myself smiling or reacting. You won't make me act like that all the time when we are older will you?" Harry shook his head and deliberately did not think too much at the young girl's not so subtle insinuation, Astoria had made it clear from the start that she wasn't one for subtlety and hiding her intentions, one of them being to get closer to him than an 11 year old should really be considering in his mind. But she hadn't tried anything and seemed to respect his stance on it all, and Harry had to admit that such an approach had definitely made him a little harder to rile up in such a manner. Deciding to have a go at fighting back for a change, Harry smirked slightly and pulled Astoria into a quick one armed hug.

"I would never want you to be anyone but who you are now Toria, you are wonderful as you are and if someone thinks otherwise they aren't worth your time." As he drew back he could see the blush on Astoria's face as she looked up at him with a shocked grin, probably due to his initiation of the hug, which was something that hadn't happened with any of the Slytherins thus far.

Harry wasn't against physical contact in a manner such as a hug, but his childhood had definitely taught him to be cautious of such things, as most physical contact had been on the other end of Dudley's fist. But between Hermione, Mrs Weasley and now Astoria, Harry had finally gotten to the point where he didn't flinch on contact, though he did still freeze up if he wasn't expecting it. Deciding to move the conversation onwards before it could become awkward, Harry decided to ask the most poignant question on his mind.

"So, is there actually any work you still need to get done after spending most of the last hour correcting my work? Or did you just want a chance to hang out and talk without Daphne and the others here?" Astoria's blush deepened a little and nodded without giving an indication to which question she was answering before launching into a quiet tirade of what the wind had been telling her over the last few days, something that Harry quickly learnt was Astoria's way of deflecting conversation from what she found an embarrassing topic.

It took a bit of work, but Harry managed to get Astoria to tell him a little more about herself as a person, not just about her powers. It was almost an hour later when one of Harry's wards, a runic ward he had found in the Chamber writings composed of a mixture of Celtic and Norse runes, flashed a bright yellow for a moment to signal its activation.

The runic array that made up the ward was an intent ward that activated by sensing the intents of those that approached, if someone was looking for the person or people whose magic had been added to the central rune of the array then the array would activate and warn it's makers. This had been used primarily around the old war camps that the Celts and then the Saxons had when they were marching to war, depending on the power put into the array, the quality of the runes and their method of construction and the number of people the ward could be made very large without too much effort compared to other ward schemes that required more physical or magical exertion. Harry could only manage a range of about forty feet at the moment, but he was hoping to be able to improve that with practice and knowledge of how runes actually worked.

With the small warning the ward had provided Astoria wasted no time in moving back round the table and bringing her work with her, the question of who had tripped the ward was realised a few seconds when a familiar mop of brown hair appeared round the corner, Hermione's face morphing into a look of tired relief as she spotted him. She walked over and placed her bulging book bag on the table with a thud before drawing up a chair and laying her head on the table.

"Harry there you are, sorry I couldn't join your study group, there was just no extra time with all the work I have to do." Hermione looked dreadful, large bags under her bloodshot eyes betraying her lack of sleep, whilst her drawn cheeks made it obvious she had lost some weight. Why Hermione was in this state Harry didn't know, though it might be to do with all the extra classes she was taking somehow, certainly the number of books she seemed to be carrying around at all times was not helping. Harry would have brought up his concerns for what must have been the third or fourth time this week, but Hermione seemed to be losing the fight with sleep for once and arguing would just awaken her in an even more stressed mood.

"Not that I don't mind someone coming to join our table to study, but if the multiple uses of the time turner are straining you this much Granger you do have a dorm room to go to..." Astoria obviously thought otherwise, her normally airy tone as cold and sharp as her sisters whilst she frowned at Hermione, obviously upset at the unwarranted interruption to their hangout time. Hermione's head shot up at the not so subtle point, rubbing her eyes as she seemed to realise that Harry was not in fact alone.

"How do you... I don't know what you are talking about, I am just a little rushed off my feet is all. Who are you anyways?" For all that Hermione liked to remind Harry about how easy he was to read at times, when she was this exhausted Hermione really wasn't all that much better, even he could tell that there was something to this time turner that Astoria had mentioned based on Hermione's reaction. Now that she had Hermione's attention, Astoria pulled off a picture perfect seated courtesy whilst mouthing the word 'ward' to Harry, shifting her expression back to an unimpressed look as Harry subtly cast a few of the charms he had quickly taken down as Hermione approached.

"Astoria Greengrass, second heir to the Greengrass family main branch, not that I imagine that means much to..." As the last charm went up Astoria dropped the frown almost instantly and replaced it with her usual airy smile. "Someone not in Slytherin, it is nice to meet you in person at last Hermione, Harry has told me quite a bit about you. Though I think my warning about using your time turner too much is something you should consider, I've been told the last person to use one for his studies went completely insane and disappeared." Harry shook his head at Astoria's rather blunt change in stance and her use of him as a cover for her abilities, but at least she had made it clear that she didn't want his best friend to know about her abilities quite yet.

"What, McGonagall didn't tell me that somebody had tried this before, I am sure it can't be that bad? And how did you know about it in the first place? It was meant to be a secret!" Hermione had obviously given up trying to deny having whatever this time turner was and was now in her usual manner trying to solve the problem of how Astoria had figured it out.

"Everyone knows, or at least they suspect, that's what happens when you are known to be in two separate lessons at once and attending all the available classes in your year. Most of the older years were jealous that you got special treatment, understandable really given the workloads as they get in regards to OWLs and NEWTs, but given the fact you seem to be driving yourself to a mental breakdown has made everyone realise the other edge to that particular blade. And he threw himself through one of the divination tower windows if the stories are to believed, obviously he saw something in his tea that didn't agree with him."

If it weren't for the fact that Harry was confused as to what was being discussed he was sure he would be finding Hermione's face as funny as Astoria was, despite the younger girl's best efforts to hide it with her usual passive smile. For what must have been the first time in Harry's memory his best friend was lost for words and it took several seconds before Hermione regained enough of her mental faculties to acknowledge there was no point trying to deny things any further.

"If his teacher was anything like Trelawney I can probably understand his desire to get the hell out of there, though I would probably have taken her with me. So are you the new friend that Harry has made whilst I have been busy working?" Despite her exhaustion Hermione was nothing if not astute, eyes fixed on Harry as he recovered from the minor coughing fit he had when Hermione of all people disrespected a teacher even as she posited the seemingly innocent question to Astoria, a sinking feeling settling in his stomach even as Astoria nodded.

"Yeah, Harry has taken me down to the chamber to see Stheno a number of..." He tried to not react as Astoria unknowingly got him in even more trouble, but the slight flinch was enough to give Hermione a victorious look even as there was the lightest of flutters in the air around him that made Astoria pause and look down sadly. "I said something I shouldn't have didn't I?" Harry nodded slowly even as Hermione prodded his chest with her finger.

"Chamber, now! And when we get there you are telling me everything! I don't want another one of your adventures going awry without me being there to stop you doing idiotic and irresponsible things!" Sighing as he gathered up his things with the finality of a condemned man, Harry paused when he saw Astoria sat still looking like a kicked puppy. Stowing his things, Harry reached across and ruffled the girl's hair, causing her to look up with an uncharacteristic glare before softening at his smirk.

"We can meet you there if you want Astoria? And don't worry about Hermione, she would have gotten it out of me one way or another anyways, no harm done okay?" Astoria nodded though she still looked sad as she rounded the table, only giving a slight smile when he gave her a one handed hug before moving away from the table, tapping the ward that he had picked up as he went, causing the paper to ignite in a poof of smoke and disappear entirely.

"Harry, was that a rune? Where did you learn that? I thought that you had no interest in Runes as a subject..." And all of a sudden Hermione was back to her old self, tiredness and anger forgotten as she peppered him with questions about his newly revealed skill in an area she was obviously interested in. He only hoped she kept her inquisitiveness when they reached their destination...

**A/N: So Hermione has discovered Harry's repeated trips to the Chamber of Secrets and more importantly who he has been hiding from her (or so she thinks!). To be honest given that Hermione is able to work out that Lupin is a werewolf despite being a muggleborn and under the stress of doing approximately 33% more work than her other year mates, working out Harry is up to something wouldn't be too hard for her.**

**I am introducing a slow switch for Harry to possibly move away to Runes from Divination, as opposed to Harry just up and changing without either much plot development or really all that much in a way of having to persuade the staff to let him do so. If you were to try and change your course at school more than half a year in there would definitely be more involved than just 'Oh I am sure you will catch up.'**

**Let me know what you think guys, Hope you all enjoyed it.**

**Defias**


	10. The Lightning Bolt

Thankfully Hermione seemed to have had enough experience of the situations Harry found himself in that the survival of Stheno didn't really faze her, probably because Astoria had made it clear that they had been down to the chamber several times without the old snake trying anything. If anything, Hermione was more pissed off at the fact that Harry had been holding back the books and notes he had found in Slytherin's quarters from her, not that she had time for more than a cursory glance before her previously forgotten tiredness came back with a vengeance.

Harry pretty much had to carry her up the last flight of stairs to Gryffindor tower, not the easiest thing to do considering the weight of her bag as well as his own books. Thankfully Ginny and her friends were in the common room as he tried to stagger in with Hermione, Vicky and Ginny each taking an arm of the pretty much comatose girl as Ellen cleared the way to the girls staircase.

Watching the disappearing figure of his best friend upstairs, Harry suddenly found himself grabbed and forced rather bodily into a chair. He tried to stand only for the person who grabbed him to drop herself into his lap, confident but friendly smirk on Katie Bell's face as she quickly grabbed his hands in their reflexive attempts to force her off him, a reaction he still retained from his 'Harry hunting' days.

"So, the rumour is you and Hermione ran out of the library all red faced and in a hurry before disappearing for the last few hours... Should I be worried oh beloved teammate of my heart?" Harry couldn't help flushing red, both at the comment and the position he and Katie we're currently in. Katie had always been... Forthright about everything and spending two years with the twins and the other chasers meant that her humour was as likely to leave Harry red faced and stammering as it was to make him laugh, when it was directed at him anyways.

Whilst Harry would definitely not consider himself capable of keeping up if he tried to reply in turn and keep pace with Katie, he was not really awake enough to stop himself from mentioning something Astoria had told him when talking about the 'wind rumours.'

"At least I haven't been going into secluded and abandoned classrooms with that upper year Ravenclaw, supposedly you also lock and silence the door as well..." He had barely whispered the playful accusation, Astoria had also told him what had actually been going on so Harry knew he wasn't actually breaking any secrets Katie really wanted to keep, but the aghast look on her face made his day.

"But, how, that's not what happens!" Her stumbling response nearly made him burst into laughter there and then, but copying a line in a movie he had seen a small segment of once Harry slipped his hands out of her loosened grasp and wrapped them round her waist, pulling them closer and eliciting a startled eep from the normally unflappable girl.

"Are you sure, because I think that the girl protests her innocence just a little too much. Perhaps if you show me 'what happens' then I might believe you." Even as Katie's face reddened significantly beyond any level he had ever seen Harry was thanking Daphne repeatedly in his head, the first thing she had worked with him on after the revelation that he needed to attend this ball of hers was his poker face, and whilst it wasn't perfect it seemed to be enough to convince Katie he was serious.

As long as she didn't call his bluff... A call from his left saved him from finding out if she would, Angelina sat with some books and parchment but her mirthful gaze fixed on Katie.

"It looks like Harry has finally defanged you if your reaction there was anything to go by Katie, does that mean he has won a round? You do remember the rules you set out don't you?" Harry had forgotten actually as he tried his best to forget all things that didn't usually end well for him. After the first few Quidditch practices and embarrassing moments he would like to forget, Katie had declared him too easy a target for her and had created some rules 'to motivate him into trying harder'.

Most of them were helpful to him, he got three 'get out' cards he could use a month to give him a Katie free day, and she could only try and embarrass him when he wasn't working or practicing. The last rule was one she obviously never expected him to achieve given his previous naivety, if he ever managed to win a teasing contest with her she would owe him an undisclosed favour that he could redeem whenever he wanted... Obviously this had been when they were 11 and twelve respectively, so it didn't have the connotations that such an implied favour might have now.

Having a witness was the nail in the coffin as Katie couldn't even pretend it hadn't happened, scrambling from Harry's lap as fast as she could before bolting up the girl's stairs. Angelina shook her head and giggled before turning to Harry and nodding appreciatively.

"I told her that you would fight back sooner or later, but she always said she would be able to take it when it happened; I am glad that you proved her wrong, she needs to learn that she won't always be able to shrug off everything that comes her way. I assume you are not going to tell me what you whispered to her?"

Harry didn't even think about it before he shook his head, whilst he was more than prepared to hold this over Katie's head as long as he could, he didn't want to start revealing other peoples secrets for no better reason other than a moment of amusement. Seeing his negative reaction Angelina shrugged but her smile didn't diminish in the slightest.

"I didn't think you would, you're not like that. Now I better get back to my work, and you can get onto to thinking about what you're going to ask of Katie..." The evil glint in her eye as she turned away made it very clear that Angelina would be more than happy to help him think of something if he needed it...

"And, that will do for now, best let Harry rest for a bit before he really starts standing on your toes Daphne." Tracey's voice came as a huge relief to Harry even as she trailed off into a muttered conversation about why Astoria had to let him rest as well. Even with almost a month's lessons at the hands of the three girls Harry still felt like he was going to make a complete mess of himself at this ball he had been talked into.

Still, some of it seemed had sunk in as he almost reflexively bowed to Daphne as was the etiquette for finishing a dance with someone, before straightening and rolling his shoulders in an attempt to loosen the stiffened muscles there.

"From your expression a girl could almost think that you didn't enjoy dancing with her at all..." The deadpan comment from Daphne would probably have prompted some rushed and embarrassed apologies from him not even 6 months ago, but after hanging out with the Slytherins and dealing with the verbal onslaught of a playfully vengeful Katie Harry could now say he was quite adept at dealing with such verbal word games.

So despite the small amount of heat he could feel in his cheeks Harry managed to keep his reaction to a nonchalant chuckle and shake of the head, determined to come out of this contest as best he could. Remembering something Daphne had taught him about deflecting the conversation and using compliments to catch your opponent (Daphne made it sound like every person she talked to for a prolonged period of time was an opponent, not that that was surprising)off guard, Harry decided to try and put his lessons into practice.

"I think that we both know that it is only the 'with you' part of this whole torture that I actually like, even if I feel guilty for standing on your toes due to my ineptitude." Humility, compliment and just enough of a suggestive comment to be considered forward but not out of line, Harry was very pleased with himself as the silence after his comment was broken by Tracey's laughter as Daphne turned bright red.

"Very well done Harry! And here I thought you would never managed to embarrass her by yourself." Setting the bar low with her expectations of him there then, but Tracey seemed to happy at her friends show of emotions for Harry to smother it with a sarcastic comeback. Much to Daphne's protests Tracey had regaled him with tales of when they had been younger before Daphne's powers had activated, the young rather mischievous girl a somewhat stark contrast to the girl he knew now.

It took Daphne a few moments to recover enough to retort, the steam rising from her face showing she was trying to use her powers to reduce her blush as fast as she could.

"Well, it is good to see that you don't come to pieces at the first stage of a verbal impasse Potter, though if you make comments like that at the ball I am sure my parents will be very interested in your intentions!" Her words were a little heated, as Harry noticed they often were the few times a conversation was not going her way, but there was no real edginess to them so Harry wasn't overly worried. Shrugging to try and display nonchalance to the implied threat, Harry decided to dodge the slightly awkward point entirely.

"Your control is really improving though Daphne, I could barely feel a difference as we danced or even when you blushed, just a little cooler breeze. Compared to before Christmas at any rate..." And it wasn't all because of the bracer he had given to her, though that helped a great deal even as the off hand compliment brought the receding blush back to her cheeks as she smiled in a please manner.

Before Harry could be distracted by how pretty that particular expression made the young heiress, a small hand reached up and grabbed the sleeve of his robes before pulling insistently, Astoria as usual moving silently next to him without him realising she had slipped between him and Tracey.

"I've improved as well right Harry, Harry? Look!" The moment was gone as Tracey chuckled at Astoria's attempt to bring the attention back to her, Harry sighing but smiling all the same as Astoria started running through all of the exercises she had been taught by Stheno through him. Perhaps this ball wouldn't be so bad after all...

Between the patronus lessons that he had finally managed to convince Professor Lupin to give him, dancing and etiquette lessons from Daphne and Tracey, researching Hagrid's and Buckbeak's case, study sessions with Astoria, Ginny and their friends and his personal research into Runes and the Anglo Saxon language on top of his normal school work and classes, Harry was quite glad that for the moment Quidditch practice had taken the back foot.

Oliver had at first tried to insist that Harry would come to the extra practices he had set up and use the school brooms as he did in the normal practices, but given the amount of pressure he was under from elsewhere Harry had put his foot down and pointed out that actually on a school broom the flying conditions were that different to when he was flying an actual broom that practicing on it was actually detrimental for when he finally got back on a proper broom. The final year hadn't liked it but Harry had stood his ground and Oli had eventually conceded the point.

Harry had only occasionally thought about the firebolt he had received at Christmas, more when Ron glared at him during lessons or pushed passed him roughly in the corridors than anything else. So when Professor Mcgonagall had approached him at breakfast on the Saturday before the match, Harry was honestly a little surprised to hear he had a meeting with Professor Dumbledore and representatives from the firebolt company itself at 1pm, and it truly hit home how close the match was given the cheer from the Gryffindors at the seemingly good news.

Taking the long route up to the headmaster's office Harry was disappointed and relieved to find the gargoyle was already open as he arrived, he had spent most of the trip up trying to think of what obscure candy or sweet that Dumbledore would be using as a password this time. Ascending the spiral staircase Harry could hear voices already, two he identified as Dumbledore and Mcgonagall respectively and two he didn't know so must be the representatives from firebolt, or he hoped they were and he wasn't about to walk into the wrong meeting.

Knocking on the door in an attempt to mitigate that possibility, Harry heard the conversation lull for a moment before Professor Dumbledore's voice called out to him.

"Come in Harry my boy, we were just waiting for you no need to be shy." Harry grabbed the doorknob and twisted it to open the door, only to feel something reach out at him for a moment before disappearing. Given his increased ability when it came to detecting magic thanks to Daphne and Stheno Harry realised that he had probably sensed his interactions with the wards on the headmasters office, what they would do to him if he wasn't meant to be here he really didn't want to find out.

Pushing the door open Harry took in the now familiar interior of the office, though Fawkes was absent this time the man and the woman sat at the desk with Dumbledore and Mcgonagall were what Harry was focussing on, the man looking still at Dumbledore but the woman had turned to look at him with an obvious look of interest in her eyes.

Guessing her age as Harry had long discovered with witches was a minefield that he didn't even want to try and tread, though she didn't look much older than 20 at a first glance, meaning that she was anywhere between 18 and 50 probably. Short cropped black hair that whilst combed show no signs of any of the usual gloss products witches like to use surrounded a tanned and rather narrow face, a nest of freckles around the woman's button nose being one of the things that drew his attention more than anything else.

Obviously his awkwardness was clear as he approached, Dumbledore chuckling in his usual all knowing fashion before speaking once more.

"Harry, come pull up a seat and sit with us." As Dumbledore said this he waved his wand and a rather brightly coloured red lounge chair appeared on the other side of him to Professor Mcgonagall, the invitation obvious even as he carried on.

"I want to introduce you to two of our alumni who have been investigating your firebolt for the last few weeks after the staff felt a more in depth investigation was required to ensure your safety before we gave it you back. I must say that Ms Trulow's enthusiasm to come to this meeting herself is rather out of character, but given who you are I imagine that would have had a great deal to do with it."

Harry could tell that Dumbledore was playing another one of his little games, after 3 years he was managing to pick up enough cues to know when Dumbledore was trying to deliberately aggravate or embarrass someone, it was to do with that damned twinkle of his. But the woman turned sharply around in her seat with a look of betrayal and horror on her face, unknowingly playing right into Dumbledore's serenely smiling hands.

"Professor! The first time you let me meet him and you introduce me like that, Harry will think I'm a... Fangirl!" The final word was said with such revulsion and disgust that Harry was surprised it wasn't a curse, the other representative bursting into laughter, seemingly despite his best efforts, the man reminding Harry of Professor Flitwick but human sized with his well maintained but messy looking beard and balding head.

Dumbledore joined in with a chuckle as the woman turned her glare on her colleague and seeing that neither of them seemed to be stopping in the near future, Harry decided to try and be the bigger man. Stepping forward to where the woman was torn between blushing and glaring, Harry did as Daphne had taught him, bowing slightly before extending his hand with what he hoped was an apologetic look on his face.

"Apologies for Professor Dumbledore ma'am, he does like to make people feel like the school children he remembers them as when they visit, regardless of how much they have matured into a beautiful young woman such as yourself. I am Harry Potter as you are no doubt aware given the Professor's introduction, pleased to meet you."

It was cheesy, Harry could feel his inner Daphne sigh and face palm in despair at his attempt to be charming, but judging by the woman's softening expression and small smile on her face it seemed to have worked. She took his hand and allowed him to bring hers up and plant a whisper of a kiss across her knuckles, as custom dictated for these kind of situations.

"I never thought I would meet someone as cheesy as James, but then his own son manages to prove me wrong. I must thank you for not joining in with the two relics though, my rather unorthodox style gets me enough of that as it is. I am Grace Trulow, 7th in line for the house of Trulow and founder of The Firebolt broom company."

She smirked as she let that last comment sink in, obviously used to the looks of surprise she received at that bombshell of a statement she so casually dropped into her introduction. Removing her hand from his grasp Grace then jerked her hand towards her companion, who was just starting to sober from his laughing fit.

"This is Master Darius Parkinson, broom crafter and charms expert at Firebolt. Once he has finished trying to tempt me into ignoring my common sense and hexing him into a toad in front of witnesses he can give you our report." The mention of hexing seemed to bring Darius from his levity, the man coughing twice before he straightened up and pulled a roll of parchment from his robe and handing it to Harry.

"That is the official report of our findings for you to review later at your own discretion Mr Potter, but I think I should be able to summate it briefly now. We at firebolt were contacted three week ago by Professor Dumbledore regarding the suspicious arrival of Firebolt number 1173 to Mr Potter with no way of identifying who had sent such a gift. At Ms Trulow's insistence we placed this as a high priority case after getting the firebolt delivered to our headquarters in France."

Harry didn't know what the difference between a high priority and a normal case and he hoped it wasn't just because of the whole boy who lived thing again.

"After isolating all of the diagnostic and sensory spell residue that we assumed were cast by members of staff during their own investigation we were able to begin a full analysis of the broom itself." The look on the man's face as he talked about the teachers investigation made it clear that he would have preferred it if they hadn't messed with the broom at all. Reaching into his pocket Darius then hefted out a familiar looking object, pulling it out of the tiny pocket as if such a thing was completely normal.

"I can now conclude that there was nothing out of the ordinary with this firebolt and I am happy to return this to you with our compliments." Harry reached out and reverently grasped his hands around the polished wood of the firebolt's haft, the top of line broom exactly how he remembered it looking when he had first caught sight of it in Diagon Alley.

Looking it over, Harry came across only one difference to the firebolt he had seen in the Quidditch shop, that being the nameplate that normally read firebolt upon it. Instead, embossed in a silvery red colour were the words 'Lightning Bolt', which was an obvious homage to him even if it was a little more tasteful than most of the knock off toys and books that had his name attached to them. His examination of the nameplate was obviously noticed as Grace spoke up a moment later, her face a wistful smile as she looked at him and the broom.

"It was my request to get the nameplate changed when I found out it was yours, I hope you don't mind but I thought you would like it personalised with your nickname." Confusion replaced the annoyance he had felt at the obvious favouritism and Grace chuckled and cast a quick glance to Mcgonagall before speaking once more.

"You mean nobody told you? Amongst your mother's friends she would refer to you as her little lightning bolt, primarily because if she took her eyes off you for one minute once you started to crawl you would be gone, supposedly you got even faster when you had done something wrong as well." The revelation about his mother and his nickname had Harry freeze in place even as Mcgonagall giggled slightly in obvious remembrance, he had taken the first comment about his father as the sort of line that anybody who had met him just once might have used, but the second one made it clear that Grace had been more than just a passing acquaintance to his family.

"Really, mum said that?" He didn't care that his voice broke halfway through that or that the longing in his voice might make him sound a little pathetic, the most he had ever really heard about his mother was about her eyes that he shared and that never really told him what she was like. Grace almost looked a little sad for him before she turned to Dumbledore with her blank business face on.

"Headmaster, I don't wish to take any more of your time up now that the matter has been resolved, but I would like to take the opportunity to borrow one of your meeting rooms for an hour if that is permissable? I know you said you did not wish me to overwhelm Harry but..." She stopped as Dumbledore waved his hand and nodded knowingly.

"I would not begrudge anyone, least of all Mr Potter with the chance to talk with one of his mothers friends and to hear a little more about his childhood and family. In fact, it would be quite hypocritical of me after hiring mr Lupin this year. So I will see Master Parkinson back to his work, Minerva, could you?" Professor Mcgonagall nodded stiffly, she had been looking at Harry with the same look Grace had given him but smiled as she gestured to the door.

"Of course Albus, Ms Trulow, Mr Potter, this way please." After bidding a brief goodbye to the two elder wizards, Harry followed the two witches as they exited the office and walked down the corridor. Determined as he was to get as much information as he could from Grace, Harry managed to keep himself from bursting with questions until they reached a door at the end of the floor by the stairs that he could honestly say he had never remembered seeing there before. Telling the pair of them that they had until dinner, though Grace was welcome to stay if she wished at the head table, Professor Mcgonagall closed the door and the two of them were alone.

"Mcgonagall was always good to me, house differences and the war notwithstanding of course..." Her smirk meant she knew she had intrigued him with her words and she waited a moment only for her smile to widen as Harry managed to restrain himself from asking, if only just.

"I suppose I should probably start with how I met your parents before we go any further, that might clear things up a little more..."

**A/N: And things progress! I have underplayed the Hermione reaction for the moment, both because to be honest Hermione is not the main focus of the story at the moment and I think the overview of how Hermione reacted that is pretty much accurate covers it well enough.**

**Katie and Harry's interaction is the sort of friendship that I personally experienced in my youth, where one child takes great joy in embarrassing the other child who is shy and not particularly verbally adept. Admittedly it took a lot longer in my case for the barbs to fly both ways but with two years of experience of Katie's attempts and the growing confidence of someone who is just starting to realise that he might be a little more than the nobody that he initially wanted to be Harry would always react differently. What do people think of Katie as a character by the way? Like/dislike?**

**Ms Trulow and the addition of the Firebolt company are two of my personal answers to two of my biggest issues in HP PoA. Firstly it answers why it took over a month for Harry to get the firebolt back as well as how they investigated the thing thoroughly for dark magic without damaging the spell work or destroying it.**

**Secondly it broaches the often untouched side of Harry Potter which is what the hell happened to Lily's friends? We hear a LOT about the marauders and James Potter, but for the most part nothing about Lily's non-marauder related antics (other than the bullshit backstory of her and Snape which is used as the moral get out of free card for one of the best written bad guys in the series.) Even with the assumption that Alice Longbottom was her best friend, which is iffy at best, there should have been more that knew her as something more than a casual acquaintance, right?**

**Anyway, rant over, let me know what you think everyone, REVIEW! I cannot improve without feedback either positively or negatively.**

**Defias out!**


	11. Black Clouds and Ball Gowns

Before Harry knew it McGonagall had knocked at the door of the meeting room to let him know it was dinner time, the last three hours having passed in a blur of history lessons and family tales. Contrary to popular belief amongst the young students, during the last rise of Lord Voldemort there wasn't anything like the guerrilla warfare going on at Hogwarts that he had been lead to believe. There were isolated incidents where students of the two factions had come to curses, but primarily the young purebloods had behaved themselves, especially as under Slughorn there was nothing like the favouritism shown to them by Snape now.

Of course, there wasn't the same level of house rivalry either, or as Grace had termed it Slytherin bullying. This was something that she had made very clear was one of the Marauders, his dad included, worst traits with their pranks. James' anti-Slytherin bias had definitely made him more enemies than friends, including Lily after she befriended the younger Grace in the young Slytherin's 1st year after rescuing her from one of the Marauders pranks.

His mother as prefect quickly became something of a champion for the younger years, locking horns with James and the others whenever she could catch them. In fact, as Grace stated with no small amount of glee, his mother probably accounted for a third of the detentions James was given that year and easily half of his trips to the hospital wing. That was before the death of his parents to a Death Eater attack in Diagon Alley caused him to change personality enough to stop with the vicious pranks against the Slytherins, which also removed one of the major contention points between the two of them. And, after almost a year of work from James, the pair finally went on a date in their seventh year, though with McGonagall's interruption any further tales would have to wait.

So his parents hadn't been the perfect couple that others had lead him to believe, Harry was actually happy with that, it made it that much easier for him to imagine them now and not think that he was not going to be able to live up to the standards everyone who knew his parents compared him to. So after bidding Grace a very fond farewell along with the promise of an Owl about his plans for the summer, as Grace had to get back to the work she had waiting for her at Firebolt, Harry made his way down to dinner with a spring in his step and a smile on his face.

Nothing could ruin his day now...

*Line Break*

Ron had tried to ruin it actually, the redhead appearing in the great hall so red in the face that Harry was distinctly reminded of Uncle Vernon. His screaming diatribe (Harry was glad that Hermione and Daphne were working on expanding his vocabulary), aimed at Hermione about Scabbers disappearance and that Crookshanks had obviously eaten him, silenced the entire hall as every person in there watched with emotions ranging from amusement to aggravation.

A sharp reprimand and the loss of thirty house points from Professor Snape seemed to do little to calm the youngest Weasley boy down, that number doubling when he started insulting Harry for taking 'the hell beast's side', though whether he was referring to Crookshanks or Hermione at this point was unclear. Thankfully Ron raised his wand, probably to curse Hermione as 'revenge', meaning that Harry felt no remorse when he utilised the stupefy spell, which he had picked up as one of the spells to use against Black.

Ron had barely time to move his wand towards Harry when the spell hit him and he collapsed bonelessly to the floor. It cost Gryffindor another 30 points for not allowing the teachers to deal with the situation, which Harry actually thought was quite nice of Snape given he had in fact used his wand and a spell, and Ron was levitated up to the Hospital wing by a highly agitated McGonagall.

Ron had been internally suspended after that incident, meaning he missed the Quidditch game or was at least forced to watch it from the castle, but given the outcome Harry couldn't really bring himself to care about the prat. Getting one up on Malfoy and winning the game was definitely a great outcome, and it meant that there was an upside to the fact that when the third year Gryffindors returned to the dorm rooms that evening after the celebrations only to find the place looked like it had been ransacked.

The culprit of the damage was quickly discovered, Sirius Black having been able to enter Gryffindor tower due to Neville's scrawled password notes caused an uproar for the next week, security being tightened even further as everyone tried to work out how he could have entered the grounds or the castle itself. Harry thought that was the wrong question, something he had brought up with Hermione a week later, after the teachers had finally let the third year boys back into their rooms after finding no dark curses left on any of their possessions or the furniture.

"Why didn't Black simply wait for me to return? Why make it obvious that someone had been in the room when he could just have waited under one of the beds, then when we had all gone to sleep come out and kill me?" He was asking the question again, this time to Daphne after he and Hermione had drawn a blank other than the obvious 'Black is insane' solution.

Rather than answer him straight away, the Slytherin merely quirked her eyebrow at him, leaning back from where she had been checking some of the rune sheets he had created. Whilst Harry was interested in Runes, especially as he was finding more and more interesting arrays in the notes of Slytherin's apprentices and followers, he really did not like the highly theoretical side of the course that Daphne and Hermione were currently taking. For the most part they were only going to start creating arrays next year and Harry found it far simpler for him to simply create the arrays as he went along rather than muddle through the theory first.

"Rather than merely ask me the same question you have already asked Granger." Harry didn't even react to Daphne's statement and obvious if slight resentment at being second choice, he knew that he was predictable when he came to problems like this and who he would ask.

"Take me through what you have reasoned thus far, it will be a good indication of whether I need to add logic lessons to our schedule before the ball." There was an obvious attempt to bait him into reacting at the end of her instruction, but Harry knew better than to bite.

"We all spent the day outside after lunch and the Quidditch match, but we know from Sir Cadogan that Black entered whilst the match itself was on, as Cadogan asked him for the score and Black said it was 10-0. Sir Cadogan then stated that Black left less than half an hour later, muttering to himself something about 'he's not there.'" Start your logic off with the facts you do have, then start to try and build from there towards the most reasonable solution.

That was what Hermione had tried to drill into his head repeatedly since the potions incident in 1st year anyways, and given Daphne's nod it was something she agreed with as well.

"So, given that he is after me, why did Black try and get in during the match? If he was watching it long enough to get the score he probably would have heard my name at least once if not seen me himself, so using his ace to get into the dorm at the one time when he knows I am not there makes little sense to me. Unless, he was trying to get into the dorms when he knew that nobody would be there, which makes a lot of sense if he wanted to kill me and then get away without anyone raising the alarm. But why leave then before I had the chance to come back?" Daphne looked pleased with his thought process, nodding her head approvingly before speaking herself.

"Very good, only two logical flaws that you need to account for before you give up your little thought experiment. Firstly, why assume that Black was actually telling the truth with his claim about the Quidditch score? If you can't remember, ask Lee Jordan or one of the others when the first goal was and how long before the second one. The only reason Black would know the score without watching the entire match would be if he happened to sneak in past the Quidditch pitch as the goal was scored." It made sense, and if he had passed that close by then then the 'how' of his entry to the castle was rapidly narrowed down.

"Okay, and the second point?" This brought a small twinkle to Daphne's eye as she stated with no emotional inflection whatsoever.

"Why do you think he is after you?" The question brought Harry up short and he had to admit that the question did cause several other thoughts he or Hermione had had since the start of the year to do with Black and his actions thus far.

Why only break out this year, as it was very unlikely something had changed to allow Black to escape and in fact it would be easier for him to escape sooner if it indeed was dark magic that had aided his escape. Why attack at Halloween and during a Quidditch match if he was after Harry? And why give up his sure fire way into the common room only to leave again rather than wait for Harry?

The last one could be answered by Black believing sir Cadogan only let him in to trap him in the common room and summon the teachers, or that he would inform the students of his presence, but the others all put a spin on things. But this wasn't for him to solve Harry reminded himself, he had promised various people not to go looking for Sirius Black and carrying on that investigation would definitely count as doing just that.

"Fudge seems to think he is, though that is hardly the most convincing argument I've ever made. Supposedly he was muttering 'he's at hogwarts' just before he escaped, he was the man who betrayed my parents to Voldemort and has even rooted through my room..." It was when he used the word rooted that Harry had an epiphany as to what Black might have been after...

"The map!" How Black knew about it, Harry didn't know or care, but if the criminal had the map or the cloak...

Luckily, given Ron's actions at Christmas Harry had moved all his precious belongings from his dorm to the Chamber. They had cleaned the area in front of Salazar's face before furnishing it with items from the rooms behind it. Extra work than just cleaning the chambers but it meant that Stheno could join them when she wasn't sleeping or eating, which was the polite thing to do in Harry's mind.

Checking the strongbox that he had commandeered, Harry was pleased to see that both the map and his cloak were still there along with his photo album. He quickly closed the strongbox after extracting the map, as Harry heard Daphne approach in his wake, whilst he had pretty much let the secret of the map out now he preferred to keep the few remaining ones he had for as long as he could.

"What is this about a map? And why would Black want such a thing?" Even as Harry muttered the activation phrase, the one thing he had deduced, if Black was in fact not just entirely insane that is, was ringing through his mind...

"Black isn't after me..."

*line break*

Of course, Daphne had been quick to point out his flaw after getting over her initial wonder at the map and how it worked, that Black going after the map relied on him knowing Harry had the map, but Harry was determined to stick with his assumption that Black was after something else and needed the map to get to them. Still, weeks had rolled by without any more news about Black and suddenly Harry had more pressing concerns as he quickly checked his dress robes for the third time.

The ball had nearly snuck up on him, only Daphne's insistence that she help him pick out his dress robes and mask for the event really bringing it to the front of his mind. Given Dumbledore already knew about their friendship, Harry had asked for permission both to attend the ball and also to go to Diagon Alley to get the required items with Daphne, Dumbledore giving him an amused look before giving him permission. This permission came with the condition that Dumbledore accompany them and that both of them would be under glamours during their trip, which Daphne had told him they would be doing anyway so that was fine.

The old wizard had been in fine fettle as he escorted them through the alley, telling them stories of how the place had changed over the last century and some of the more amusing incidents that had happened in the alley including the time that all the animals had escaped from the menagerie and invaded Florean Fortescue's. Dumbledore had also insisted that he pay for the whole thing, calling it his opportunity to make up for 12 years of no presents, the cloak not counting according to Dumbledore as it had been Harry's in the first place.

So here he was in emerald green robes lined with ivory silk and a snake mask that both Dumbledore and Daphne had insisted upon, in line with the Lord Slytherin name that he was going to the party as. Dumbledore was coming as his guardian, given he was underage he wasn't allowed to leave the castle without one and it meant he didn't have to reveal his heritage to anyone else.

The pair of them had met in the Headmaster's office, Harry borrowing one of the adjoining rooms to change and cast the glamours that changed his hair and eye colour along with several other features that would make identifying him more difficult as well as making him seem older, before they traveled by floo to Greengrass manor. It was elegant and obviously meant to impress, the chandeliers and antique furniture making Harry wonder quite how much money the Greengrass family actually had. Given the entrance hall they found themselves in was bigger than the Dursley's entire ground floor, Harry imagined it was rather substantial.

There were a few others in the hall arriving through other fireplaces, the guests quickly dusting themselves off and making their way to the large pair of double doors at the far end of the room where music and the general sounds of many could be heard. Harry had to admit he was tempted to turn around and head back to Hogwarts right now, he was sure Daphne would understand. A chuckle from Dumbledore stopped him and looking up, Harry saw him looking down at him with undisguised amusement.

"It is strange for those like us Lord Slytherin, we will fight monsters and dark wizards more dangerous and terrible than most of these people can every imagine without fear or concern for ourselves. But when faced with a room of strangers to whom your wand is no defence, that is where we face our greatest battles." With that particular nugget of wisdom as well as the admission, either truthful or not, that Dumbledore found these situations as uncomfortable as he did Harry managed to steel his nerves.

Dumbledore was right of course, after the troll, Quirrell, Aragog, Stheno and dementors he really should have nothing to fear. Stepping forwards as confidently as he could manage Harry heard Dumbledore fall in step behind him as they approached the man at the door. Daphne had talked him through what would happen, so Harry merely extended his hand to pass the invitation he had to the man who took one look at the name and was unable to control the flinch as he quickly checked the invitation list and beckoned them inside.

Harry could hear the muttered conversations between the man and someone he had obviously beckoned over behind him, but his focus was solely on the ballroom he had just walked into. The ballroom was almost twice the size of the Hogwarts great hall, with all of the things that were expected such as a dance floor area above which a string quartet were playing. Looking off to his left Harry could see seating at round tables which would easily accommodate 300 people and then large glass doors and windows that looked out onto what must be the gardens.

He could go for a proper exploration later, but first he had to go look for the hosts so that he could be introduced and get the embarrassing part of the evening out of the way. It didn't take long to spot them, given that there was a sudden tug of wind that pulled over to his right and brought his attention to where the Greengrass family were stood greeting and talking with various guests. Astoria was gazing over at him and obviously restraining herself from coming over and speaking to him straight away, but given the second breeze that caught his robes that patience was not going to last for long.

As he approached, Harry noted that the Greengrass family masks were all the same, white wooden masks that were decorated with forestry schemes in an obvious homage to their own name and their history as Royal gamekeepers. Lord and Lady Greengrass were dressed in matching dark silver robes that shifted with the light and were obviously meant to be attention grabbing, whilst Astoria was wearing a burgundy dress with a little hat that made her seem very much like a little princess out of the stories.

Reaching the group, Harry waited until they had finished greeting another couple and was about to bow and introduce himself when another voice spoke up, Dumbledore striding up next to him.

"My Lord and Lady Greengrass, you are looking splendid this evening." Though the masks masked any facial expressions, Harry could see that both parents eyes were fixed on him as Dumbledore gestured in his direction.

"I apologise for my unannounced arrival, but I felt it necessary to accompany this young man after he received an invite to your ball as a favour to his parents, they are away and asked me to look after him. May I introduce you to Lord Slytherin." Whether Dumbledore meant to or not, he made his introduction loud enough that it wasn't merely the Greengrass' that heard Harry's title but several other groups in the nearby area, the shocked muttering that quickly pervaded the entire ballroom the only thing Harry could hear.

' _Bow at the waist to 30 degrees whilst dropping your right foot back slightly. Make your introductions and thank them for inviting you and then move back to a standing position.'_ Daphne's coaching in his head Harry slid through the motions that he had practiced a hundred times, the mask he was wearing had a voice altering charm attached to it that deepened his voice even as he continued.

"My Lord and Lady Greengrass, it is an honour to have been invited here this evening." Standing Harry saw Lady Greengrass eye his prominently placed Slytherin ring before nudging her husband in a way that was only visible to Harry and Dumbledore. Lord Greengrass spoke up a moment later after pulling off a quick bow of his own.

"Lord Slytherin, I must admit we were surprised when we got your response, it has after all been more than a decade since anyone has claimed the status of Slytherin's heir." The tone made it clear something Harry hadn't considered before now, if the last heir to Slytherin was Voldemort, people were naturally going to assume that he was either his son or related in some other similar way.

All of his coaching went out of the window as Harry very quickly tried to think of how he could get out of this situation without either being branded a new dark lord or revealing his actual identity. He had to admit any third option was looking fairly slim right now...

**A/N: It is one of the things I have never seen in a 'Harry becomes Slytherin's heir', which is that people think he is actually Voldemort's son. If it has happened apologies for missing it, but I thought it would be fun.**

**With Ron still being an immature prat I had the scene of his and Hermione's fight over Scabbers escalate beyond what it was in the books. Then of course, with him internally suspended, there would be no scene with Sirius Black. But that got me thinking, why if you were Sirius Black would you try and go after Pettigrew whilst everyone is in the tower? There is the argument that Ron might have Pettigrew with him during the day but I doubt it given that Pettigrew was able to pull off the whole 'being eaten' thing.**

**So Black goes to the tower during the quidditch match and has the time and ability to spend time trying to find Pettigrew, but the rat is long gone and Sirius needs to leave before anyone can find him and raise the alarm. I bet I get told it is contrived but I don't particularly care...**

**Let me know what you think guys :)**


	12. Snakes fight and vixen's delight

_Previously on Harry Potter and The Elemental Tale:_

_"_ _My Lord and Lady Greengrass, it is an honour to have been invited here this evening." Standing Harry saw Lady Greengrass eye his prominently placed Slytherin ring before nudging her husband in a way that was only visible to Harry and Dumbledore. Lord Greengrass spoke up a moment later after pulling off a quick bow of his own._

_"_ _Lord Slytherin, I must admit we were surprised when we got your response, it has after all been more than a decade since anyone has claimed the status of Slytherin's heir." The tone made it clear something Harry hadn't considered before now, if the last heir to Slytherin was Voldemort, people were naturally going to assume that he was either his son or related in some other similar way._

_All of his coaching went out of the window as Harry very quickly tried to think of how he could get out of this situation without either being branded a new dark lord or revealing his actual identity. He had to admit any third option was looking fairly slim right now..._

Harry Potter and The Elemental Tale: Chapter 12

"It is something his father was never interested in claiming, especially with the rise of Lord Voldemort and the terror of the last war. The dark lord would no doubt have viewed such a claim as a threat to his cause and acted to remove such a threat. So only myself and a few trusted confidants knew of this heritage, until of course Lord Slytherin summoned the family ring just before the Christmas break, rather a surprise for everyone I will admit." Harry might actually get to the point of forgiving the old man for his shitty childhood, certainly his mention of Voldemort had both dragged the attention of the crowd away from Harry and given him a more plausible reason for his parents not having claimed to be Slytherin's heirs themselves.

"As the Headmaster says, I was investigating the aftermath of Potter and the whole Chamber of Secrets debacle last year when I accidentally stumbled upon a secret passage that lead to some old rooms. They must have been used by my family at some point because amongst some of the other artifacts was the ring." Harry then made a show of glancing around before raising the point that had been bugging him since he had walked over.

"Also, may I enquire to where Heiress Greengrass is? I wish to thank her for the invitation this evening." Probably a bit short and blunt, but Harry was never one for implying things if he didn't absolutely need to.

"Heiress Greengrass is to arrive just before the first dance, as is the Greengrass tradition, but first Lord Slytherin I think I am not the only one still bursting with questions." The silky voice of Lucius Malfoy made Harry tense ever so slightly as the blonde haired man stepped into the little circle that had been formed around them.

Memories of the man from last year still brought rage to the forefront of Harry's mind, but he did his best to calm himself quickly as he realised two things. Firstly, if he wanted to keep his identity a secret still Lord Slytherin had to pretend not to know who Lucius was. And secondly Harry realised with a slight predatory grin, Lucius had just overplayed his hand in the first round.

"I am sorry, but I do not wish to take up any more of Lord and Lady Greengrass' time, I imagine they have many other guests that they wish to greet and talk to before the ball properly begins." Harry inclined his head respectfully at the pair whilst saying that before continuing. "And also, I do not know who you are sir, but isn't it impolite to interrupt another's conversation without either introducing yourself or being invited?"

Bullseye Harry thought, as the constant smirk that rested on Lucius' face shifted for a moment, the slight narrowing of the eyes all Harry needed to know he had truly caught Lucius off guard. The Malfoy family head was quick to recover though as he bowed his head in apology.

"Of course you are right Lord Slytherin, I apologise but I was simply so excited to meet the family head of my former house that I forgot about protocol, I am Lord Lucius Malfoy of the Noble house of Malfoy. But if I may just ask one question to prove to all of us here that you are in fact Slytherin's heir, I mean no offence but the use of parseltongue has always been the definitive evidence of such lineage..." Forget overplaying his hand, Lucius was going all in with everything and why he was doing that Harry couldn't help but wonder even as shocked muttering broke out in the crowd around him.

"Lord Malfoy, questioning the honour of another Lord is not acceptable at any polite event, especially in my home..." Lord Greengrass' words preempted Harry's own as he was determined to fight and win this battle himself.

"You think you can barge into a private conversation and overtly make accusations about my birthright? You claim to be of my house Lord Malfoy but your lack of manners here strike me more of Potter and his obnoxious pet Weasley than of the Noble house of Slytherin.  _The joke is on you here Malfoy!"_  Harry managed to channel quite a lot of his dislike of the man into the part where he spoke about himself in the third person, and his deliberate slip about calling Slytherin 'his house' would probably be all Lucius needed if he had been trying to catch Harry out by angering him.

It seemed to be the case, Lucius quick to apologise once more but not quite capable of hiding the victorious look that settled in his eyes at Harry's response in both English and in parseltongue.

"I would never question the honour of a scion of such an Ancient and Noble house Lord Greengrass, Lord Slytherin. I just wished to have any possible rumours laid to rest now before the morning papers were filled with the wrong headlines." Despite his urge to press the obvious advantage he now had over the man, Harry just about managed to restrain himself, it wasn't worth it in case he actually did reveal more than he ought to in the rest of the conversation.

"Very well Lord Malfoy, but consider this a warning and do not let me hear of you trying to aggravate Lord Slytherin again this evening." Harry wondered quite how many levels of sub conversation he was behind at this stage, the two elder lords giving each other a stony look before Lucius moved away once more.

"Lord Slytherin, I must as you said, take some time to greet my other guests before I am thought to be favouring you with too much attention. Please enjoy yourself and I will speak to you later, once the ball has properly begun." A not so subtle instruction that there was still more they needed to discuss, but for now Harry was just desperate to move away from all of the piercing gazes around him, so he took the out being offered in what he hoped was not a desperate manner.

"Of course Lord Greengrass, I will leave you to your other guests, let me know if I can be of any more assistance this evening." Another bow, this one only to twenty degrees to indicate your increased familiarity with the host, and Harry was pleased to see all three of the Greengrass' respond in a similar manner before Dumbledore whirled him away with practised ease.

"Now Lord Slytherin, I know there are many others who will be delighted to meet you, I will introduce you to as many of them as I can remember, and we can grab a drink on the way..." The next five minutes were a jumbled array of introductions and questions from the people Dumbledore introduced him to, Harry not entirely sure of what he responded to the questions he was asked or really by whom.

"You handled yourself remarkably well given your age and inexperience my boy, Ms Greengrass has obviously put a lot of effort into preparing you for all this." Dumbledore's comment, after they had finally been able to fend off all of their interested parties and retreated to one of the tables, made Harry chuckle to himself even as he drank his second butterbeer of the evening.

"It's not as if I gave her a choice, her preparing me for all of this was one of my provisions for coming after all. Still you are right, I will thank her for it later, assuming I don't manage to disgrace myself and get kicked out before she finally gets here that is." Dumbledore didn't respond, simply giving his usual serene and all knowing smile as the two surveyed the gathered guests.

"Lord Slytherin?" Harry was distracted from his attempted relaxation by a strong and confident voice, belonging to a well tanned brown haired man who whilst of average height and build exuded the same kind of all knowing confidence Harry was used to seeing in Dumbledore, who continued once he was sure he had Harry's attention.

"I am Lord Nacho Vasquez, special advisor to the Spanish Wizards Council, though I think you will be more interested to know that I am also the personal tutor to both young Greengrass'." the glint in the man's eye reassured Harry about as much as Daphne's own warning about the man whose name he now recognised.

*Flashback*

" _If there is one person you need to be more careful around at the ball than my parent's Harry, it is my tutor Lord Vasquez. He is an elemental like me, but whereas even with your help I am still struggling to control my power, Vasquez has control over it to the point that he doesn't have to worry about his emotions influencing that control. He is also VERY protective of young elementals, so whatever you do, do not infer that you are trying to manipulate or bribe us. That will definitely end badly and I don't want to see you in hospital with burns..."_

*Flashback End*

"Lord Vasquez, I am honoured to meet you, Heiress Greengrass has spoken of you many times. I am to understand that you have been of great help when she was dealing with a few niggling control problems..." Formality was less likely to get him into trouble than familiarity here, or so Harry hoped anyway.

"I am always glad to hear that my pupils speak highly of me even when I am not around, though I cannot say that the reverse is true of you Lord Slytherin, Daphne wouldn't even give us your name after she revealed the bracer to us. It is almost as if there is something about your 'friendship' that she wishes to hide..." Harry couldn't help but think that Vasquez was the first test of the evening, the ones Daphne had promised he wouldn't have to worry about. Oh well, Gryffindors forward...

"Apologies for any incorrect assumptions that such vagueness may have caused you Lord Vasquez, whatever reasons Heiress Greengrass may have had for not telling you my name before the ball invitation are her own. Perhaps she merely wished to respect my privacy, given the reaction this evening I find her restraint commendable." Definitely a little too deferential and defensive for Harry's liking, but something Hogwarts had taught him was overestimating those around you was best.

"Lord Vasquez, I must say that I am surprised to hear you are the Greengrass tutor, many would have thought the  _fire_  of your ambition too great to be distracted by such a lowly, if respectable position." The emphasis on Dumbledore's word 'fire', during his interruption of the conversation, seemed more of a warning to Harry than any kind of warning or threat to Vasquez.

"This coming from the man who holds two of the most vaunted positions of Wizarding power, as well as running one of the most prestigious magic schools in the world? Maybe you should step out of your glass house before you try throwing such large stones headmaster." The two men stared at each other silently for several moments, before Dumbledore chuckled slightly to himself and stood, extending a hand that the other man took firmly.

"It is good to see you again Nacho, I must admit that I had forgotten that you would most likely be here tonight, I thought you would be dealing with the Council." The two were obviously old friends, which surprised Harry given the obvious difference in age between them, but he supposed Dumbledore had never been one to shy away from making new friends and allies.

"Likewise Albus, such events have never really been your fancy, not unless you have a chance to cause some trouble or turn some heads. Lord Slytherin is definitely the largest political magic trick I have seen you pull thus far, the news will spread by the morning I imagine, if the papers are not already printing now. I have never seen so many 'upstanding' members of society in such a rush for the floo, anyone trying to arrive late now will probably have to wait quite some time for a free space." Albus chuckled whilst Harry looked up sharply, noticing for the first time that it was true, the ballroom was somewhat emptier than it had been before and that a queue was visible from where he was sat to the entrance hall.

"So Lord Slytherin, I find that you have befriended not one but both of my charges, despite Daphne's best efforts to stymie her sister from revealing such information. Despite my reservations at the secrecy involved in your acquaintance, young Astoria has nothing but good things to say about you despite not telling me anything in particular about you, which given that her abilities tend to reveal things people would rather keep hidden is rather enlightening." Harry wasn't quite sure where this was going, managing to resist the urge to cast Dumbledore a glance to see if the old man was doing any better than he was, Vasquez might well take that as a sign of weakness.

"As much as there seems to be the belief that my ancestors house relies on secrets and plots, I find it much easier to survive such machinations if I have nothing to hide..." Which was true, Harry had never really tried to hide any secrets, primarily because he didn't really think he knew anything that was worth hiding.

"Oh really? Well I suppose it doesn't count as hiding your heritage if people don't ask you about it, and asking someone if they were Slytherin's heir is not something you do, even with all of trouble you had last year. Given your introduction, it does sound like you know the location of the Chamber of Secrets, I wonder if Dumbledore would be agreeable for a group to come to castle and explore it properly some time? There could be much in the way of lost knowledge and artefacts down there..." Without waiting to see how Dumbledore responded to the question Harry put his foot down, even though was Vasquez was right in what was down there, that didn't mean that the Chamber was suddenly free game for anyone who wanted to visit.

"I apologise for this lord Vasquez, but this is MY heritage you are so brashly trying to get permission from the headmaster to effectively loot, and I will not stand further disgrace to my line by letting that happen. IF I decide that I will let people come and peruse the chamber, it will be the people who I deem worthy and when I am ready for such an event, not when others who think I am too young for such decisions make that choice for me." To Harry's surprise Vasquez didn't look angry or irritated at his outburst, merely eyeing him for a second before nodding his head approvingly.

"So you do have some bite in you, I am glad to see that Daphne's choice in friends is still as impeccable as ever. Speaking of whom, I think the young Ms Davis wishes to speak with you." Vasquez gestured off to his left where an obviously nervous Tracey stood, obviously trying her hardest not to fidget as they all looked in her direction.

Harry had to try very hard not to stare in an obvious fashion as he took in the girl before him. Gone were the school robes and unstyled if well kept red bob that she usually wore her hair in, replaced with a flowing burgundy dress that whilst modest made it very clear that that puberty had certainly started and was doing wonders.

Eyes coming up to see the mask styled in the picture of fox, which was very suitable for her given what Harry knew of her now, he noted perhaps the greatest difference in her that he had never seen before. Her hair was now styled into a more traditional hairstyle, that somehow turned the somewhat abrasive tomboy into a striking young woman, only her hurried tucking of an errant lock of her hair behind her ear reminding Harry that he should probably stop staring and go talk to her.

"Well in which case Lord Vasquez, Headmaster, I will bid you a good evening lest I keep the lady waiting any longer." With a quick bow Harry move swiftly over to Tracey, resisting the urge to hug the life out of her for getting him out of that rather intimidating conversation, instead taking her offered hand and ghosting her knuckle with a kiss as they had taught him during their practices.

"Ms Davis, I don't think I can truly express how timely your arrival was, any later and I probably would have landed myself in some hot water." Tracey giggled and smiled apologetically, pulling gently with her arm so that he ended up by her side in the traditional manner for a man and woman to walk around at a formal event.

"Yes Lord Slytherin I could tell, even though you don't have the distinctive expressions in regards to emotions that some of our friends share, you definitely do not fill the traditional image of a Lord of Slytherin House. I must apologise as well, Daphne did ask me to try and keep Nacho busy so that he couldn't try anything, but unfortunately being Ward of House Greengrass comes with it's own responsibilities that I could not ignore." The subject of Tracey's situation, both of her parents having died four years before whilst completing business work overseas, was another thing that had been broached surprisingly casually by the girls in preparation for the event.

Whilst Tracey's family weren't considered a Noble house or anything like that, the fact that the Greengrass' had taken her in and declared her their ward made her almost like an adopted child to the family, meaning that her perceived 'value' as a potential match amongst the Pureblood families had risen considerably despite her half-blood status. It disgusted Harry to be honest, but given the seemingly unrelenting stance Lord Greengrass had taken in refusing any and all advances by potential suitors, Tracey didn't have to worry about the same situation that Daphne was in at least.

"Not to worry Ms Davis, I was expecting something like this despite your assurances, hopefully Lord Vasquez will report kindly in my regards." Catching her eye, Harry nodded his head and then activated the rune he had scribbled on a piece of paper inside his robe sleeve, the two moving over to one of the far tables where he could cast the other privacy spells in relative peace. As the final spell went up Harry sagged in his chair, so thankful for the small opportunity to relax, even if it was only a moment's respite it just felt so good to have the weight of his shoulders.

"Merlin, this is so much harder than I thought it was going to be, please tell me it gets easier from here on in Tracey." The redhead relaxed slightly as well, leaning back from her previously straight sitting position as she shook her head.

"Only thing that makes this kind of thing any easier Harry is practice, though you are doing very well for a beginner given how you dealt with Malfoy, I don't think anyone was expecting that. I am sure Daphne will love it when I tell her afterwards..." Harry chuckled lightly at the thought of Daphne's face when she found out he had crossed blades with the Malfoy patriarch, certainly she would be more impressed than annoyed with how it turned out...

They carried on talking for 10 minutes before there was the sound of a gong from towards the far end of the hall, where a long and lavish set of stairs lead up to what he could only assume was the rest of the house. One of the men who had been in charge of checking the guests and announcing their arrival was now stood at the bottom of those steps, his magically enhanced voice calling out around the hall a moment later.

"Lords and Ladies, may I present the Heiress Greengrass and her intended, the Scion de Montfaucon as they lead us in the first dance." And as the pair descended the stairs in the wake of the announcement, Harry forgot his original intention to scope out this intended neither girl had told him much about, finding himself instead fixed on his friend as she descended the stairs with a grace that Harry would never be able to claim, even on the Quidditch field.

Her blonde hair was styled into a braid of some kind, though Harry's knowledge of women's hairstyles was pitiful and therefore unable to come up with a better description than that, though it was intermixed with what looked like snowflakes and ice crystal jewellry that might well be real given her powers. Similarly to her hairstyle, her blue dress seemed to both accentuate her figure as well as give homage to her powers, a sparkling ice blue dress that left her shoulders exposed in what Harry could only call a tasteful style.

A flash of light from just to his left blinded him for a moment, leaving white spots in his eyes even as he turned to face to look at Tracey, who was looking at the camera in front of her with a mixture of a wistful smile and a frown.

"And here I thought I got a good reaction... Sorry Harry but even with your mask on, that face is definitely one I am going to hold over your head for the rest of your life, you've got it bad boy!" Despite her attempt to sound cheerful, Harry could tell something was bothering her, thanks to constant interaction he was finally getting to the stage that he could be considered not entirely clueless about things like this.

"You do realise the only thing that stopped me from being as impressed with your look was the terrifying elemental lord stood next to me right? I didn't think you would want me chargrilled before the dance, or would a death defying fight just make me look more dashing?" Harry didn't know why, but Tracey looked up sharply as her cheeks coloured, before her mouth turned into a shy smile.

"Y-you mean it?" Harry nodded, not understanding why Tracey would think he was lying.

"Tracey, any one of our friends from school would be honoured to have you as a partner to a ball like this, the fact that you look even more beautiful dressed as you are now is merely a bonus..." Tracey started to look more and more emotional and Harry thought he might have said the wrong thing, but then she leapt across and hugged him fiercely for a few moments before obviously remembering where they were and pulling back with a bright grin on her face, even as she wiped a couple of tears from her eyes.

"If you weren't so clueless, a girl might get ideas with comments like that Lord Slytherin, and I might get some regardless. Now, despite it usually being the other way round I cannot let you get off lightly after saying that, so may I have this dance?" Happy that the girl now seemed happier than she had been all evening, even if he had no idea what he had done, Harry stood and extended his hand whilst matching her smile.

"Of course Ms Davis, nothing would please me more..." Obviously he had said the right thing again somehow, as Tracey smiled even brighter at him whilst half dragging him to the dance floor where a slow waltz had been struck.

Perhaps, Harry mused to himself a little ironically as the pair reached an empty part of the floor and fell into a now well practiced opening stance, this night might not be quite as terrible as he had thought...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Tracey/Harry fluff, yay! Sorry but the more I write of her character the more I really start to like her. Harry isn't actively flirting by the way, the boy is far too clueless for that, merely saying what he thinks is the truth.
> 
> Tracey's reaction is based on a couple of things, but predominantly a mixture of competitiveness with her 'sister' and a insecurity complex. If Daphne is anything like as beautiful as most fics make out, then the attention she will generate has a negative impact on even the best of friends self esteem, so Tracey is almost too used to any male sidelining her for Daphne whenever possible.
> 
> So Harry isn't the charming and suave playboy that some fics make him out to be, instead he is merely a socially awkward boy who happens to say what he thinks, even if normally that might get him in trouble. Let me know what you guys think about that and the little spar with Lucius at the start, whilst it might seem heavy handed for the normally politically adept Malfoy, it allowed Malfoy to get all the information he wanted and afterwards he can merely put it down as being overwhelmed by meeting the heir of such a prestigious house.
> 
> Leave a review and let me know what you think!


	13. Chapter 13

Harry had to admit that the ball had been much better than he had expected, pulling slightly with his arm to bring Tracey in for the traditional finish of the waltz they had just danced to, the redhead not needing much effort as she smiled easily up at him. The two knew they were drawing quite a lot of attention, given they had been dancing for almost twenty minutes now and both had refused any others that had tried to interrupt them, but it didn’t bother him.

 

“Tracey, I would like to ask Lord Slytherin for a dance now.” The rather terse instruction caused Tracey’s smile to fade a little, and if Harry hadn’t seen that it was Lady Greengrass who had spoken he would probably have had a few choice words to say, the young ward stepping back and giving the traditional curtesy a moment later.

 

“Of course Lady Greengrass. Thank you for your time Lord Slytherin, you are quite the proficient dancer and I hope for another opportunity to dance with you soon.” Harry grinned at the compliment and knew that unless he messed up and got kicked out he would be having that dance sooner rather than later.

 

“I would have you know that I do not approve of such interruptions normally, especially given that is the happiest I have seen Tracey look this evening.” Lady Greengrass’ words caught Harry by surprise, obviously his annoyance had been easier to see on his face than he had intended, the woman continuing on before he had a chance to respond.

 

“But, it was either this or I let my husband call you up to the meeting room for a more formal meeting, something I am sure you would prefer to avoid my lord?” Harry nodded slowly, though he knew this was as much the elder Greengrass trying to stay on her daughter’s good side by not formally interrogating him than for his own benefit.

 

“You benevolence is duly noted Lady Greengrass, though I would point out that having known your daughter for some time now the other reason for you doing this is obvious, so let us not pretend that you are doing this solely for my benefit.” It came out a little terser than he had intended, but from what he knew of Daphne trying to play word games with her parents would just end badly for him, so honesty was going to be the way forward.

 

“Daphne did say you were not one for such games, a pity but interesting none the less. So Lord Slytherin, shall we dance?” It was as if the band were listening to her every word, striking up a slightly speedy rhythm that Harry knew was to help put him off balance, but he nodded and the two joined hands as they started.

 

“Light on your feet but not flowing with the rhythm of the music, you have not been dancing for very long have you Lord Slytherin?” Harry nodded, no point in trying to hide the fact and knowing what Daphne had told her parents about him meant he knew what they were expecting.

 

“Unfortunately not, my parents had me raised with my relatives in the muggle world for fear of a death eater finding out their heritage, and muggles have moved on from this kind of dance.” What kind of dancing they did now Harry didn’t know, and would have to find out, Lady Greengrass smiling at him politely as she listened.

 

“Well, you certainly seemed to enjoy yourself with our young ward, the familiarity between the two of you as you danced means that she helped you prepare along with my daughter?” Daphne had warned Harry that her mother was a shrewd observationist, something which showed as she continued speaking.

 

“Whilst Daphne has tried to give you the right to your privacy Lord Slytherin she is not quite as clever as she thinks she is, so please don’t take offence when I say I know who you really are.” That came out of the blue, and Harry couldn’t help his eyes widening slightly at the rather dramatic revelation, how did she know?

 

“The first fault is in the timing of Daphne first wearing your gift, just after a Hogsmeade weekend when I know neither she or Tracey had been to the village thanks to the regular letters I get from Astoria. Which meant when she revealed it had been someone who had given it to her, it had to have come from someone who wasn’t in Hogsmeade that weekend, another list I was able to get from Astoria before Daphne started checking her mail.” Harry could already see that the woman was on the right track, and now she pointed it out they would have to work on their cover story significantly more to avoid others doing the same.

 

“The fact that you then replied as Lord Slytherin immediately threw me off the scent a little, as well as the fact that Daphne has told me you helped her with some control exercises. But despite the obvious attempts to change your looks, you cannot do much to change your general build, which ruled out anyone above fourth year.” The two followed the steps as they weaved between other couples on the floor, though Harry at this point was truly being led around as he prayed the woman was wrong in her deductions.

 

“There is also the fact that you used the Slytherin name as a disguise, the main reason one chooses a disguise is to avoid attracting attention to oneself, which is not what that particular title will do. So therefore, the use of Slytherin’s name had to be aimed at hiding your real identity rather than avoiding the crowds, and there are very few children for whom fame and attention are considered detrimental.”

 

“It only truly clicked when you arrived with Lord Dumbledore, both his rather stern defence of your heritage as well as your own hatred of Lord Malfoy giving me some extra clues. There was no fear as you faced off against Lucius, despite the fact the man was clearly trying to intimidate and provoke you, something that a normal child would never be able to do with only a couple of months training.” Suddenly there was a gust of wind that seemed to cause Lady Greengrass to slip, Harry just about managing to keep her upright as she reasserted her footing, both of them looking across at a glaring Astoria who was stood arms folded not far from them.

 

“And my daughter's reaction shows that I am right, for all the things I love about my little Astoria she doesn’t understand that sometimes reacting is more proof than a lack of action.” Harry sighed, with it being pointed out to him like that his attempt to disguise himself really was lacking in substance.

  
“I suppose we need to go talk about this elsewhere then Lady Greengrass? It seems the hand your daughter prepared me with is quite inadequate for this conversation..." At least he had tried to protect his identity, hopefully he would be able to persuade the Greengrass' to keep the connection a secret for now...

 

"Don't be silly my lord, my daughter will already be angry enough with me as it is at me doing this, I do not want my ball room turned into a blizzard if she sees me dragging you off somewhere, you know our secrets so I can assure you I will keep yours. I promised I wouldn't pry any further into you, and in the most literal sense of the agreement I haven't, I certainly won't try and scare away someone who is a true enough friend to Daphne to face the possible ramifications of her gifts.”

 

“I do have one question to ask you my Lord, and I want you to answer me truthfully with my word I will speak the answer to no-one, not even my husband." The forthrightness of Lady Greengrass' words was a cunning deception for the calculating mind underneath the serene smile, each and every word chosen to weave the intricate web that was composed implications and inflections, which made the conversation go exactly where she wanted it to go.

 

“I will as long as it does not require me to break any secrets others have asked me to keep...” Harry would have preferred to say no to answering at all, but that is probably why Lady Greengrass opened with her little detective deductions, it had been made clear that keeping on her good side was in his best interests.

 

“Honourable and not afraid to say what he thinks, definitely not a fit for the image people have in their heads of a member of Slytherin. Do you like Daphne?” It wasn’t that the question was unexpected, he had assumed it would be the first thing that Lady Greengrass would ask, but the potential ambiguity of the question made Harry realise this was another test.

 

He could merely pretend that Lady Greengrass meant in terms of friends, but whilst that would save him an awkward answer it would set the line between them, one that would give Lady Greengrass further advantages than she already had. If he answered truthfully, that he didn’t know, Lady Greengrass might take that answer as a lie or an attempt to delay the issue, which would probably end up being fed back to the rest of the family. If he lied and said no, then that would be entering him into a whole new minefield for which he would be horribly outgunned, his terrible ability at lying something that hadn’t improved much even with the work Daphne had done with him.

 

“I think, I think you already know the answer to that Lady Greengrass, otherwise you would not have made the promise not to tell anyone beforehand...” Given that any of the three options he had to respond to the test would end badly for him, Harry instead decided to go with the hail mary pass option of pointing out the test for what it was.

 

“Hmm, you certainly are an interesting one my lord. I would press for a more definitive answer but it seems that you have other priorities right now...” The song finished and Lady Greengrass left him in a whirl of emotions as the one they had just been talking about appeared in front of him.

 

“Lord Slytherin, if I may?” The look of concern on Daphne’s face made Harry feel a little bad about his distraction, but as they started dancing he finally caved to the unspoken demand to know what was worrying him.

 

“She knows who I am Daphne...” And she knows that I like you, that bit went unsaid because Harry wasn’t entirely sure himself, being slightly surprised when Daphne offered him a small smile before pulling him in a little closer.

  
“I wouldn’t worry about that Lord Slytherin, I think you will find that my mother isn’t quite as right as she thinks she is...” Harry was rather confused at Daphne’s aplomb attitude, the girl leading them into the middle of the dance floor as they moved and spun in turn.

 

“Tori, if you could?” The seemingly out of the blue question would have confused any onlookers, but then a buzzing sound surrounded them and Harry realised that they were now safe from any eavesdroppers, obviously Astoria was still listening in using her powers.

 

“My mother is quite the opponent, but luckily she still underestimates what Tori and I can do when we work together. Whilst we couldn’t change some facts that she received, the lists that she got from Tori weren’t entirely accurate...” Harry couldn’t help but grin back as he realised what Daphne had done, he was slightly annoyed at being kept out of the loop but he could understand why.

 

“And you didn’t tell me so that I could be genuinely defeated during the conversation? Sneaky should be your middle name Daphne. So who does your mother actually think I am?” Daphne looked him straight in the eyes for a moment before smirking at him.

 

“Why, Draco Malfoy of course...” Harry very nearly froze on the spot, struggling to comprehend the fact he had just been thought of as the self proclaimed ‘King of Slytherin’, when Daphne laughed, the rare sound making Harry look at her sharply.

 

“Sorry Harry, that was just too easy and your reaction was priceless. No, Malfoy would never have worked, especially after the argument you had with his father. Does the name Anthony Goldstein ring any bells?” And with that all of Harry’s concerns faded, he was slightly embarrassed at Daphne’s joke but he could live with that, at least he didn’t have to worry about Lord Vasquez turning up on his door if the elder Greengrass’ decided that they didn’t like him for whatever reason.

 

“Where’s tall, dark and handsome then? Am I going to get in even more trouble for dancing with you now?” Daphne glared at the nickname that Harry had given this Montfaucon heir, before gesturing with her head off to his left, where the young man was stood watching the pair of them with a small smile on his face.

 

“Louis is over there, and he is the one who pointed out that my mother was dancing with you, so I wouldn’t judge him too quickly Harry. He is actually quite nice once you get past his... abrasive personality.” Obviously Daphne had another word for how Louis acted, Harry assumed it was the sort of word that Daphne liked to pretend she didn’t even know existed.

 

Having given the man several glances as they continued to dance, Harry couldn’t quite decide what to make of the man. He was rather short given he was a few years older than them, with dark blonde hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and a stocky build he reminded Harry more of his uncle than someone like Lucius Malfoy. The grin on his face seemed genuine but there was something in his eyes that made Harry a little wary, like a wolf eying up a new deer in the herd it was stalking.

 

“He wants to meet you after this, and given that he gave me the warning about my mother I couldn’t exactly say no.” Which, given the way everything was going this evening, probably meant that was the exact reason Louis had pointed it out to her. Merlin he was getting rather cynical.

 

“As long as he doesn’t challenge me to a duel I think I can survive... Actually maybe I would stand a better chance if he did.” It was a bad joke but Daphne smiled brightly at him all the same, the two continuing to dance with practised ease until the end of the song, Daphne then leading him over to where the man was waiting by one of the tables.

 

“Lord Slytherin, I see you have managed to survive your first interrogation by my future mother-in-law, I hope you haven’t been too beaten down to refuse a drink?” Louis’ grin merely widened as Daphne smacked him on the arm, obviously he wasn’t subtle in his views on Lady Greengrass’ actions and this wasn’t the first time he had voiced them.

 

“Thank you for the offer Scion de Montfaucon, I hear you were instrumental in my timely rescue, so for that I will not mention what you have just said to Lady Greengrass if we meet again this evening.” Accepting the glass of butterbeer from the man, Harry was amused to see him merely shrug it off.

 

“She already knows what I think of her, we had a candid conversation soon after Lord Greengrass and I completed the betrothal agreement, very clear which of them wields the wand in that relationship.” Seeing Daphne cringe at the mental image that comment probably summoned up, Harry could see why Louis’ attitude annoyed her so much.

 

“Louis, please try and refrain from such comments, I do not think Lord Slytherin needs such thoughts.” Daphne was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, probably because she wasn’t controlling the direction and tone of the conversation with her usual ease.

 

“Sorry Daphne, but you are so much fun to wind up sometimes... Ah, my little breeze!” Louis dropped to one knee as Astoria appeared in her usual abrupt fashion next to Harry, the two exchanging a warm hug that was very much against the social norm for these situations.

 

“Big brother! And H-Lord Slytherin, I am really sorry about mum, I didn’t realise she was trying to get me to react as well...” Louis merely took the change in subject with an ease that Harry envied, seemingly content with not knowing more than the barest parts of the conversation.

  
“Is this about Daphne’s scheme to hide your real identity from her mother? Did my slip that he really liked the book you got him for Christmas help?” That comment made Harry realise it hadn’t been just the two of them working together, making Harry wonder what Louis’ angle was, but he supposed if Daphne trusted him enough to ask him to do something Harry couldn’t really complain.

 

“It did, and I’ve told you Louis, it isn’t a scheme...” The four of them continued to talk, Astoria attaching herself to Harry’s arm to discourage anyone trying to come and interrupt them for a dance, or that is what she said when Louis noted it at least.

 

Harry couldn’t bring himself to dislike the man, as Daphne said once you got past his initial attitude he was fun and easy to talk to, and Astoria really did seem to genuinely like him which was always a big plus given her powers.

 

“So, I think we are expected to dance a couple more times before dinner, Louis would you take Astoria?” Daphne’s suggestion didn’t meet any resistance, not from Louis at any rate...

 

“But Daphne, I haven’t got to dance with him yet. You said if I behaved I could...” Astoria’s pout brought a little smile to Harry’s face even as Louis openly chuckled.

 

“Do you not want to dance with me little breeze? I feel so... what is the word, unloved?” Even though it was clear that Louis was just messing with her, Astoria went from pouting to shocked apology remarkably quickly.

 

“You know I don’t mean it like that Louis...” Louis laughed and placed a hand on Daphne’s shoulder.

 

“Come Daphne, we should let her have this dance and then you can dance with him for the last song before the dinner bell. It will cause quite the stir...” Obviously him being Daphne’s last dance before dinner was a big thing socially, which made it even more surprising that Louis was so at ease with the idea.

 

“Louis, you cannot mean...” Before Harry could hear the continued discussion he was dragged rather bodily away from them, Astoria moving them towards the middle of the dance floor before they started to dance.

 

“He’s really good for her you know.” Astoria’s muttered comment brought Harry’s focus back to her, and despite her obvious attempt to force a smile on her face Harry could see some hurt in her eyes.

 

“And for you as well Tori, I haven’t seen you so happy to see someone other than me or your sister.” Harry took a gamble at this point and tightened his grip around her waist slightly, clearing his mind of his frustrations of the evening, focussing on the slightly shocked squeak from the girl in front of him.

 

“But at the moment I am dancing with a pretty girl and I want her to enjoy herself rather than worry about anyone else, so let’s see a real smile please Tori?” She looked at him for a moment, and from the extra ruffling breeze through his hair he could tell the wind was saying something to her, though what she saw there was a mystery.

 

“Tor...” He was cut off as Astoria darted forward and pecked him full on the lips, a little awkwardly given their masks but surprisingly romantic given it lasted only a moment, Astoria pulling back with one of the widest grins he had ever seen on her face.

 

“Thanks Harry, at least I can say I wanted that one...” Obviously she liked what the wind had told her Harry thought bemusedly, still getting over the rather shocking change in pace for the evening.

 

Given the lack of reaction from those around them Harry assumed she had hidden them behind the wind for that moment, but rather than get concerned about it Harry merely focussed on the nice feeling he was experiencing right now, the two of them dancing slowly until the music faded and the other dancers drifted towards the edge of the dance floor. Looking down he saw Astoria leaning into his shoulder, eyes closed and smile on her face, a view he wished he wouldn’t have to change for the world.

 

Unfortunately he would have to, given the expectant look on Daphne’s face as she stood not too far from them, and Harry could see Louis over talking to the band for some reason. Guiding Astoria over to the edge of the dance floor, he was surprised when she suddenly shifted away from him, smile never fading as she looked over to Daphne expectantly.

 

“All yours Daphne, try not to give Papa too big a heart attack...” With that rather ominous comment, the littlest Greengrass skipped over to Louis as the band took up a beat that it took Harry several seconds to recognise, his bemusement turning to concern as Daphne took up the position that indicated that the music was that of a German/Viennese Waltz.

 

“Daphne, what the...” She silenced him with a look even as they started the initial combination, one she had taught him with Tracey ‘just in case this dance comes up and you can’t escape the dance floor in time’, though given her smile he doubted she didn’t know the music Louis was going to request before time.

 

The Viennese waltz had been considered a highly controversial dance back in the middle ages, and given the highly conservative ways of British pureblood society that meant it was still so today. As Daphne stepped around him Harry caught Tracey’s amused eye from where she was stood at the edge of the dance floor, which made sense given the Viennese waltz was meant to be a dance for close couples or betrothed children alone.

 

“Relax Lord Slytherin, and then we can work out what the hell Louis is up to later...” Daphne’s comment made Harry realised how tensed up he had actually been, and given her words perhaps she hadn’t actually known of Louis’ plan before it happened, though that left Harry at a loss as to what the smile was for then.

 

And despite the rather loud mutters and pointing in their direction by those who had not moved to join them on the dance floor, Harry found himself doing as Daphne suggested, relaxing into the dance that he had practiced the least but enjoyed the most.

 

“Either my betrothed is the cruelest man in the world or the most benevolent, though in this position both are interchangeable...” Daphne’s muttering caused Harry to raise an eyebrow but he didn’t respond, he knew when she spoke like this it was self reflection and wasn’t meant for him to interject.

 

They spun, shimmied and shifted seamlessly through the moves, each blind to everything except the other, Daphne forgetting her problem solving for looking him straight in the eye with a small but elegant smile on her face. Harry had felt the feeling that was currently bubbling in his chest before, both around Daphne and a few others, but this was the equivalent of a tidal wave that sent every nerve tingling as they shifted back into the embrace that was the hallmark of this kind of dancing.

 

But, all too quickly the music ended with the sound of a bell ringing, Daphne turning to him with a smile so wistful and sad that Harry actually felt a little bit of his soul freeze at the raw emotion. He could also feel the temperature around him dropping rapidly, little ice crystals appearing  around her as his breath misted the air.

 

“Daphne? What’s wrong? Was it something I did?” The smile changed, disbelief and frustrated amusement in equal measure, something she often had when he said or did something she found hilariously naive or silly.

  
“You idiot... But I suppose this is exactly why...” And with that she moved from his embrace, making her way over to her parents as Harry tried to work out what she meant. This party was really starting to make his head hurt...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, there you have it, some more intrigue, plotting and romance. Along with the big reveal of Daphne’s intended, probably not what you were expecting, am I right? I don't particularly like stories where the fiancé is an obviously terrible person or bumbling idiot, it makes the writer's job too easy.
> 
> What do you think of Louis? Or Lady Greengrass and her deductions? Anything you would like to see more/less of? Let me know.
> 
> Defias out!


	14. The Attractive Alibi

"I can see it now, 'Newly revealed Lord Slytherin steals the Belle of the ball', the newspapers won't find it nearly as interesting that Louis very clearly set that little piece of gossip up for everyone." Tracey's amused comment did little to settle Harry's nerves, as she moved him towards one of the few remaining empty tables, his eyes still occasionally darting over to where the Greengrass' we're doing their best to avoid reacting to the rather animated gossiping and pointing that was going on.

"But the question is, why? I know I am nothing like on the level of you and Heiress Greengrass, but I cannot think of a way this benefits him..." Having just sat himself down in his chair at the table, content to let everyone else go and eat from the buffet, Harry was surprised when another voice spoke up in reply to his question.

"Louis ez not what you would call... Traditional, 'e adore the opportunity to upset theze people and their perfect little worlds." The speaker moved into view as she continued speaking, Harry having to mentally slap himself twice to avoid openly staring as she did so. **(Sorry guys but I will not be doing her accent from here, I am sure most of you can imagine it in your heads.)**

"Apologies, I am Fleur Delacour, I would not interrupt normally but Louis requested I help fill up your table Lord Slytherin. The vultures will no doubt wish to descend after that dance and you are a far more accessible target, though I will admit it is as much my desire to meet you that made me agree rather than Louis' 'charm and diplomacy', which is what he will probably try and claim after all this is over." The rather nasally tone of the gorgeous older girl in front of him reminded him of Draco Malfoy slightly, but she also reminded him of Daphne with her almost awkward caution exhibited in her body language.

"Haha, I have only met Scion de Mountfacon this evening Ms Delacour but that sort of claim is very much something I can see coming from him. If you wish to join us you are more than welcome Ms Delacour, though I must warn you that we will be relaxing this evening and therefore will be toning the whole lord thing..." To his surprise Fleur didn't seem too bothered by the idea of a more casual setting for dinner, though the caution he detected earlier was still there as she sat herself down, eyes darting to the steady stream of people who seemed to take her approach as a signal to follow.

"Lord Slytherin, it is an honour to meet you..." Doing his best to maintain a civil tone Harry weathered the storm of politely declining people's attempts to sit with them, the tide only lessening at the appearance of Dumbledore who managed to wave off the crowds with only a few words that were vague enough to not actually mean anything despite seemingly answering most people's questions.

"Lord Slytherin, I see you have had your first interaction with Senor de Mountfacon... And, given the looks of you and my student had at the start of that dance, you've also had the pleasure of the first of his undoubtedly many 'pranks' to come..." With the two elder wizards now sitting at the table it was full enough that no one else tried to 'sit in' the empty spaces, especially given Lord Vasquez's literally smouldering expression as he stared across at the young boy in question.

"He must truly be an extraordinary individual if he can make you feel so 'heated' Nacho... Though I must admit that he certainly knows how to play a crowd. I would advise being subtler if you wish to follow in his footsteps however Lord Slytherin, such blatant and forward showboating is just as likely to leave you 'burned'..." Whether Dumbledore meant making a scene or pissing off Daphne and her family Harry wasn't quite sure, though if the headmaster was going to keep up the fire puns much longer then Nacho was probably going to either leave or turn his ire on him instead.

"Please Headmaster, don't let him hear you say that, he's bad enough when only he thinks he's brilliant..." Fleur's comment came with the long suffering sigh of someone who had put up with the man's actions for years, Harry couldn't help but wonder if this was what Hermione sounded like when talking about him and their red headed former friend?

"I agree with that, as much as Tori loves him I am surprised that Lord and Lady Greengrass are prepared to put up with such rudeness, especially to a guest like Lord Slytherin and using their daughter to do it." Harry couldn't decide who Tracey was trying to ensnare with her sudden change of tone over the whole dance matter.

Though, looking at where the Greengrasses were arguing as subtly as they could with someone like Louis, Harry couldn't help but wonder how many snares the young Frenchman had laid out given the somewhat victorious look he had in his eyes.

What Louis was planning, and how all this gossip benefited him, that was the real question...

-/:;()£&

Daphne was glad her parents had ended the ball a little early, 11 pm instead of midnight as had originally been planned, because if she had to put up with her 'fiancé' any longer she would probably have given up on hiding her powers and turned him into an icicle. No, that would not be enough, because if she did that then she would still be able to see his damn smirk! Knowing that her parents were probably looking for her, Daphne took off to one of the hiding places she knew it would take them a while to check, a balcony above the ballroom that meant she could look out over the gentle slopes that lead into the forest of Sherwood.

"Why does that boy have to be so...irritating!" Her anger breached her self control for a moment and everything became covered in several inches of frost, which made her realise quite how much her emotions had built up over the course of the evening.

' _I didn't even get to bid Ha-Heir Potter goodbye in case anyone gets further ideas, though I assume Tori told him why I was keeping my distance when she went and got her second dance.'_ The sound of the door opening behind her whirl round in a fury, only to find Astoria stood a little awkwardly by the door with a small smile on her face.

"Sorry Tori, but I am really not in the mood for company right now..." As the eldest, Daphne was determined not to set a bad example for her sister, and unleashing a literal flurry of anger and embarrassment across the front lawn was definitely not supporting that ideal.

"Which is why I asked her to help me find you..." Appearing from behind the smaller girl was the source of her current distress, Louis looking unusually serious as he raised his wand to create a shimmering shield in front of him as an errant blast of frosty wind discharged in his direction.

"You..." There were so many different words Daphne wanted to use as she did her best to reign in her fury, Astoria's presence currently the only thing stopping her unleashing her full magic in the direction of the source of her ire.

"Tori, I think you should head off, let Lady Greengrass know that I have found your sister and she will be down shortly." Astoria was intelligent enough to know that she didn't want to stick around, though that didn't stop her from giving Louis a quick hug before flitting off.

The two of them stared at each other for several moments, Daphne's fury dampened by her confusion at Louis' irregular behaviour, both with his serious attitude as well as him sending his human shield away when Astoria was the best chance he had of not getting iced.

"You looked beautiful tonight." The comment, delivered in his usual light hearted manner, was so honest in it's intent that Daphne caught the breath she had been taking.

"I didn't mean to upset you, and given the fact you haven't tried to... Ice cream me I assume you at least understand I did it on purpose for a good reason, even if you do know what the reason is yet?" The mistranslation was so obviously intentional that it would normally have annoyed you, but if there was one thing Louis was good at it was diffusing a situation with humor.

"You didn't just embarrass me Louis, everyone is going to be talking about this for weeks! We were meant to be getting Lord Slytherin through my parents pestering quietly..." Daphne paused as she saw Louis' face change into his usual 'I know something you don't know', though he rather gracefully elaborated rather than dragging it out as he was often prone to do.

"The moment he revealed himself with that kind of title he wasn't going to get through the evening quietly mon cherie, even we French have a great interest in such a historically significant family. And given you were too focused on trying to protect him from _la sorciere_ that is my future mother in law, I thought I would give him a hand in distracting some of the gossip that is to come." The reference of her mother as a witch in Louis' native tongue was something he had used to aggravate Lady Greengrass in private with impunity, normally it amused Daphne considerably but she was focused on his other inference that he had somehow helped.

"What do you mean Louis? All you have done is make sure both he and I will be on the front page of the Prophet tomorrow..." Definitely not in line with her plan of maintaining a low profile, and Merlin only knew how upset Harry was going to be with her because of this debacle.

"And who do you think the reporters and nobles will try and hound about the story? The new Lord who no one knows the identity of, the shy heiress who is locked away in a boarding school with no access to non-family members, or the flamboyant French scion who clearly put the entire situation together for his own purposes and actively seeks out the media's attention? Even your English papers know that I go out of my way to create situations like this, so rather than think there is something between the two of you they will instead be incensed at the 'insulting prank' pulled on two of their noble houses by a filthy Frenchman ." It was the sort of counterintuitive line of thought that made Louis such an infuriating opponent in politics, as nobody in their right mind would throw those they wanted to protect from the spotlight straight into it's beam so that the spotlight would then shift to find the one who had thrown them there.

"At first, sure, but now every student will be tasked with finding out who Lord Slytherin is, and that means that it will be impossible for me to move without being followed by someone." Especially the Malfoy heir and those in their house that he could bribe, given the incident at the start of the evening Lord Malfoy would be doing anything short of actually posting a bounty for Harry's identity by both legal and less than legal means.

"From what I have and haven't been told, you and Heir Slytherin have several areas of the castle where you can meet without the risk of prying eyes..." Whether he meant by her, Astoria or simply what he had deduced during their work to combat her mother's inquisitiveness Daphne wasn't sure, but his logic wasn't without it's flaws.

"But if we cannot be seen together without risking exposing him, how could we arrange such a meeting? As I am sure you have gathered, despite his namesake and his upbringing he isn't the most subtle of individuals." Probably a little harsh given Harry's complete lack of experience before Christmas, but it gave the impression that Louis had overplayed his hand and at least the small satisfaction of seeing him flustered.

"Which is why I have a present for you, the other I have already given to Lord Slytherin when he departed an hour ago." No such luck, though as Louis brought out a small box from one of his jacket pockets Daphne had to wonder how long he had been preparing to embarrass them all, probably far longer than she would like to admit.

"I am surprised he didn't try and curse me, given how angry your early retirement made him he showed remarkable self control, though if Tori hadn't been there he might well have cut loose." Taking the box, Daphne opened it to find a small silver ring, with a series of bands crisscrossing across its surface and leaving small havens for a dozen or so letters to fit inside, though the spaces were currently blank.

"In France we call them _anneaux de l'artisan_ , though I think over here they would be better known to you as tinker rings." Daphne knew of them under that title, tinker rings were usually created as part of an enchanter's mastery program, with the complexity and size of the rune network hidden on the inside of the ring key parameters in determining the candidate's final scores for that particular test.

Most were merely show pieces, able to pass warmth and cold onto the partner ring over a short distance or something similarly unimpressive, but as she begrudgingly slipped the ring onto her finger and pulsed her magic to bind with it she realised this piece was far more complex. Not only did the ring warm as her magic ignited the runes on the ring, but small runes appeared on the bands crossing the ring as letters appeared in the gaps she had noted earlier.

"I left the boy instructions on how to contact you, and now that you have charged your ring with magic there will be nowhere near the lumiere if you wish to reply." Daphne had to admit she was mostly mollified with the gift, whilst he had still screwed up and would remain in that position for quite some time, the chance for her and Harry to arrange meetings in secret was far more useful than remaining angry with Louis.

That, and tinker rings of this complexity and strength were few and far between, meaning that Louis must have spent quite the sum to obtain them as a peace offering. As long as she wasn't obvious when she checked the ring it would be quite hard for people to guess that it was a tinker ring, and even if they did they would assume it was connected to Louis rather than Harry.

"Why?" The sudden bluntness of her question was clearly not what Louis was expecting, but she had danced to others tunes for long enough, it was time to try and pull a Harry and cut to the heart of the matter.

"Sorry? What do you mean why? I thought me trying to save myself from 'the big freeze' would be..." She didn't mean to but a gust of icy wind cut across them and silenced Louis as she composed what she actually meant.

"Why all of this? Why help me maintain my friendship with a boy that you know next to nothing about? Any other man would be absolutely furious with me being so close with another male, especially given the efforts I have gone through to hide his identity after him gifting me the bracer..." Daphne didn't know particularly why she was getting so worked up about Louis' lack of jealousy, given her... views regarding Harry she should be thankful if anything, but it was a mystery and she hated them.

"Have you tried to hide his existence from me? Or tried to use his title and obviously growing title to act against me or mine in some way?" Daphne shook her head and Louis gestured back to the door he had come through with something of an apologetic expression.

"You have been nothing but honest with me since we became betrothed Daphne, even if you didn't realise that is what you were doing when we spoke. Even his identity is being hidden for his sake rather than as an effort to keep things from me, and given your mother I can understand why you have gone to such lengths." Louis shifted a little awkwardly before pushing onwards, which was understandable as neither of them had ever been comfortable discussing their relationship on anything but a formal level.

"I know I am not the... partner you wished for when your parents told you about our betrothal, certainly I have not made things easier for us to get along with my attempts to inject le humour into this place, so given how I act and who I am best friends with can I really get onto my... high horse?" She nodded automatically as he looked at her questioningly regarding his attempted use of english colloquialisms, and realised that he had a point regarding his friendship to Fleur Delacour and how close the two of them acted, as well as his 'pranks' that were just as likely to have her spitting icicles as laughing along.

"He makes you happy mon lauriers, and as far as I am concerned that is enough for me..." She blushed at his nickname for her, which he used only when it was just the two of them and was a bastardization of the greek origin of her name and the reference to the Roman era, when Laurel crowns were amongst the most highly prized honours that could be bestowed upon someone.

"You, you are so infuriating!" Despite her remark her powers had calmed down to the point where she felt safe to smile as he bowed in obvious appreciation for her words despite the fact it was meant to be an insult.

"Of course I am, I had to get you out of your emotionless shells somehow, wouldn't you agree la reine des glaces?" And with the use of his more public name for her the moment was over, Daphne living up to his 'term of endearment' a moment later as she tried to pelt him with an icy blast that he deflected with a twirl of his wand whilst giving his usual relaxed chuckle.

Whilst she didn't know whether Louis would be right about how the media would react to the ball and the dance, there wasn't much she could do about it now other than apologise to Harry when they met back at school and his cover was in place. And well, if he wasn't, she did need a new target for testing the power of her abilities...

!"£$%^&*()_

"When you called in that favour Harry, this is definitely not what I thought you had in mind..." Katie's slightly pouty expression that came with her disappointed comment would normally have amused Harry as she slid into the seat next to him for breakfast, but he was already observing the post owls as they arrived with their usual torrent of newspapers and letters with no small amount of concern.

"I think you will understand in a minute why I needed an alibi last night Katie, though I did promise to make it up to you another time didn't I? It gave you more time to work on your essays as well..." Katie cast him a sharp look at the subtle reminder of her homework issues, having been diagnosed in the muggle world with severe dyslexia the year before she at least understood why she had so much difficulty with her homework even if the teachers wouldn't accept a 'muggle excuse'.

It was the actual reason she had been meeting up with the older Ravenclaw that Harry had insinuated she had a relationship with, the boy suffering from a more minor version of the disability and passing along the hints and tips he had to help with her work. Even so, it took her considerably more time to write up her essays than it would someone normally, even with Alicia offering to help proof read her work when Katie finally confessed her issue to the rest of the Quidditch team. It was something that she didn't want spreading around, even though she knew that he and the others didn't think any less of her because of it, the Slytherins would probably do something crass with the knowledge if they understood what it would mean.

"Oh yay, three more hours doing potions work instead of 'hanging out' with my cute little teammate that has finally started to realise what he likes about girls..." It was the easiest alibi that Harry could come up with, whilst pretending to go on a 'date' with Katie wasn't as easy as just working with Hermione, everyone knew that the pair of them would cover for each other as well as the Weasley twins did so it would be questioned far too much for it to be viable.

"You love the bragging rights it's giving you with the other girls, I am surprised that you didn't try and smother me when you sat down in all honesty..." Katie smiled like the cat that caught the canary before leaning across and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"True enough, though I don't think that Hermione would be too happy with the whole smothering thing unless we became official.." He could feel himself blushing slightly, but he still smiled at the attention before Katie pulled back and flipped a knut to the post owl that landed in front of her, the owl catching it in it's beak a little disdainfully before tossing the newspaper her way.

"It's certainly a catchy title..." Leaning across to look himself, Harry decided to push his boundaries a little by resting his head on Katie's right shoulder whilst he took in the contents of the front page, the girl stiffening slightly before relaxing and to his surprise leaning her head slightly to rest against his.

' **Lord Slytherin's return ruined by French Faux-pas!'**

_By Rita Skeeter_

_The Spring solstice ball is considered one of the most exclusive events in wizarding Britain, and last night the prestige of the ball truly came into it's own with the appearance of a new lord of an ancient house. Lord Slytherin was accompanied by Professor Albus Dumbledore, who has seemingly been keeping the young lord in secret out of fear of reprisals by You Know Who's ex-followers, but he quickly made it clear that he was not merely there as a show piece with a heated introduction to Lord Lucius Malfoy._

_Whilst the young lord handle himself with remarkable authority, Lord Malfoy left the conversation with his typical smile, so this reporter can only guess at what the highly intelligent and charismatic lord managed to glean from his deliberate aggravation of his newest rival._

"Is it me or is this reporter trying too hard to compliment Malfoy whilst not insulting this new Lord Slytherin at the same time?" Katie's comment caused Harry to chuckle as he broke off from reading the article, though her commentary was surprisingly close to his own thoughts from the night before, even though her tone made it clear she knew exactly who Lord Slytherin was.

"Given how much money Malfoy throws around at anything he doesn't like, it is probably a good idea, but she also doesn't want to annoy Lord Slytherin by either belittling him to much or making it seem like Malfoy pushed his buttons too easily in case he uses his name against her." Thank god for Daphne's lessons in social politics, it made guessing this kind of thing so much easier.

The rest of the article was collecting what must have been a web of different rumours and theories about who he could be and where his allegiance possibly lay in terms of the Wizengamot. Harry was briefly concerned about the implications of having to attend a meeting of the wizarding world's governing body, but he then realised that he would only need to turn up if Slytherin actually had a seat at the Wizengamot, and given it was formed three hundred years after the last Lord Slytherin died he found that unlikely.

"So Lord Slytherin was seen dancing not only with both of the Greengrass daughters, but also the ward of house Greengrass who he then ate dinner with after being manipulated into the couples dance with heiress Greengrass by her fiancé? Three different girls in one night from the same family? Lord Slytherin obviously likes living life dangerously..." Katie's comment had that fake-amused undertone which was prevalent amongst pissed off women, something Harry was glad he was starting to notice on his own as it meant he had a chance to diffuse the situation, or at least a chance to get a running start.

"From what it sounds like, the three of them were the only ones he knew there, given he didn't really speak to anyone other than them and Professor Dumbledore. Given the 'quiet but assured threats Lord Slytherin passed onto Scion de Mountfacon when he departed the ball', it is more likely he was there as a favour to one of the three of them and didn't enjoy this Mountfacon guys attempts to insult him and his friends." Harry wasn't sure he was out of danger yet, but seeing as Katie didn't nudge him off her shoulder he seemed to be in the clear for now.

"Oi, Potter! What were you doing pretending to be Lord of those slimy Slytherins and pouncing around at their stupid ball? Gryffindor not good enough for you now?" The rather crass comment from his former male best friend actually suited Harry, as it was shouted down the table loudly enough that everyone in the breakfast hall heard it, the entire room falling silent as everyone awaited his reply.

Lifting his head, he looked around for a moment before shrugging his shoulders in an uncaring manner.

"I have no idea who this 'Lord Slytherin' is, and to be honest other than the fact he clearly doesn't get along with Malfoy I don't care, I am a little distracted with other things right now..." He looked across at Katie with his best attempt at a warm smile, given she had upped the ante with the kiss on the cheek before he had no qualms with doing the same now, both of them blushing as catcalls and whistles came not only from the Gryffindor table but across the hall as well.

He could see several girls looking coldly at Katie, probably for taking 'their man' as he had heard himself being referred to as amongst the young witches he barely knew, but as Katie tried to spoon feed him some of his porridge in what she obviously thought was an embarrassing romantic gesture Harry found he didn't care. He had received confirmation from Daphne that they could meet in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom later that day, he had a hot, older 'girlfriend' and he had survived the ball relatively unscathed.

All in all, life was pretty good right now...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Harry using another girl as a cover to remove everyone's suspicions about him being the mysterious new debutant? How very cunning :P I bet most people didn't see that 'relationship' starting up so soon.
> 
> I hope people don't dislike my OC's motivations too much, though I imagine most people will just assume that it isn't the whole truth or at all true and go from there, whether they are right or not we shall have to see. As I covered in previous chapters, Louis is not going to be the typical 'bad guy' fiance that is so easy to hate, that takes away a huge amount of potential drama and conflict as Daphne works out that picking the guy she loves is really not that easy...
> 
> I was tempted to have Harry use Hermione's time turner to give himself his alibi, but Harry thinks Dumbledore wouldn't approve of such blatant rule breaking (This isn't super Harry, he does get things wrong...) and also I don't think people would believe Hermione as much as they would a 'third party' like Katie.
> 
> So, how will everyone react to the Boy Who Lived being 'taken' now? Whilst the girls will be 'in the know', I can't see Katie not taking the opportunity to have some fun with the situation, and who knows, she might even find out she likes being Harry's girlfriend for real...
> 
> Please review and let me know what you think guys! See you all next time
> 
> Defias


	15. The First Steps

With the events of the ball behind him, Harry had thought that the worst of this whole thing was behind him, though as he paced nervously in front of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom he knew he had been wrong about that.

What he hadn't considered before going to the ball was the fact that Ginny, Hermione and Katie knew that he was Lord Slytherin, which meant that they all now knew that he was friends with Tracey, Daphne and Astoria. With this being the case, and to avoid suspicions of him meeting up with Daphne in case people still believed he was Lord Slytherin, Harry had arranged for Katie, Hermione and Ginny to come to the meeting he had arranged with Daphne to discuss the fallout.

Whilst he knew Daphne wouldn't be happy, given the efforts she had undertaken to avoid people making the association between the two of them publicly, but bringing the other three Gryffindors in now would make their efforts easier to maintain going forward. At least he hoped it would, it came down to whether the girls could get along, and that was something that no amount of his recent girl experience would help him work out before the potential fireworks began.

"Harry, are you okay? You look nervous..." Harry was distracted by the rather chilly appearance of Myrtle through him, the ghost having created several rumours of her own recently with her repeated forays from 'her' bathroom to other areas of the castle, even attending the evening feasts a few times.

To her credit, Myrtle hadn't even made it obvious that their interactions had been the cause for her changes. Instead she spent her time speaking with the various ghosts, even getting drawn into some conversations at the Ravenclaw table, when the students got over the arrival of the formerly difficult ghost.

In fact, many of the younger students were already considering her to be something of a secondary house ghost. The fact that Myrtle was still a teen in appearance made her much more approachable than the Grey Lady, who almost never spoke to the living even if they were in her own house.

"I've been better Myrtle, things could get interesting today though, if Hermione and the others don't get along down there." Harry didn't feel the need to keep his voice down, they hadn't been discreet about the fact that the four of them were going to explore the Chamber after all.

Given the number of people who were 'loitering' nearby, even with him standing there waiting for at least the last 5 minutes, any attempt at subtlety would probably be all the proof needed he was in fact Lord Slytherin.

It had been Ginny's idea, and despite Katie's protests that this 'destroyed the drama of it all', it made a lot of sense. It had meant Harry had been forced to endure the badgering of more than 30 separate people, who felt they should be allowed to investigate the Chamber as well, most no doubt hoping to find some ancient artefacts or treasure they could 'claim'.

"Well I can't help you much with your friends Harry. As long as you tell them about what they might find down there, then you should avoid any unwelcome shocks." Myrtle's words made Harry feel a little bad, he knew that Myrtle's school difficulties and lack of friends was still a touchy subject, though her advice about Stheno was sound and would definitely need to be discussed with Ginny before they got to the Chamber itself.

"Of course, there have been enough of them already this year. Do you want to come down and explore again?" Hermione had apologised to Myrtle, for her actions and words last year when he had first brought her here, after the accidental revelations Astoria had given her.

But, it was clear that there was still some tension between them, as Myrtle frowned for a moment before nodding briskly.

"It would be nice, and there's always a nice breeze down there, even if you and your friends don't find anything new." Harry couldn't help the slight smile of pride, as the hidden meaning of Myrtle's words became clear to him.

Astoria had a way with people without really meaning to, the girl's cheery nature and unfettered stream of questions making her a good fit for the Ravenclaw ghost. Any further conversation was cut off as Harry caught sight of the three girls approaching from the Grand Staircase, Katie in the lead as she pushed past a couple of his 'watchers' to wrap him up in a  _very_ familiar hug.

"Hi Harry! Miss me?" Taking the opportunity to further their 'act', as well as enjoy something he was finding to be one of his favourite things, Harry returned the hug as warmly as he could.

"Hi Katie, of course I did, even though we only saw each other like an hour ago. One would almost think that you can't bear to be away from me…" Harry let the sentence hang, though as Katie shifted out of the hug he saw it hadn't had the intended effect as she merely judged him for a moment before giving a 'so,so' motion with her hand.

"Not bad, but a bit cheesy. Six out of ten." Katie grinned as his cheeks reddened, a little embarrassed that his jibe had been so ineffective, but before they could continue they were interrupted by a cough from Hermione.

"As much as watching you two wind each other up for the rest of the morning would no doubt be entertaining, you can do that as we go check out the Chamber for signs of this 'Lord Slytherin' guy." Since the conversation with Astoria about the time turner, Hermione had been a lot more responsible with it and her own time, though Harry still thought the memory of her storming out of Divination was one of the best he had this year.

She'd also dropped Muggle Studies, though that was so she could instead spend time working with Harry on Runes, and despite his dislike of the theoretical side of the subject Harry found it useful in improving his rune carvings. After this trip into the Chamber, they were planning on approaching Professor Babbling to expose Harry's interest in the subject. Only after a couple of weeks of course, to allow him 'time' to look over the Chambers notes.

Whether he would be able to switch Divination to Runes wasn't a big deal to Harry right now. But, given he was now just making stuff up for Divination, anything else would definitely be a better use of his time.

"Jealous Hermione? You know I wouldn't try and steal Harry from you all the time, if you want a hug from him you just need to ask me nicely. I might even allow a quick feel, if you ask me  _really_ nicely." Harry wasn't sure whether it was Angelina and Alicia or the Twins, but someone was definitely too much of a bad influence on his 'girlfriend'.

"You! I don't know what… Enough let's just go…" It was nice to see it wasn't just him that Katie could wind up so easily, though as a red faced Hermione pushed past them and grabbed his hand to drag him into Myrtle's bathroom, Harry knew that those watching would definitely be spreading some more sordid rumours about the three of them by dinner.

Letting himself get dragged into the bathroom, as it was the way that Harry was intending to go anyway, he decided to do them all a favour and try and calm Hermione down before she lost her temper at Katie's teasing. The 'brains' of their little team let out an adorable squeak as he pulled back on her hand and sent her tumbling into a hug. She stiffened for a moment, then she wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I love your girlfriend Harry, but I am going to curse her soon if she carries on like this…" Harry was surprised that said girlfriend hadn't followed them through yet, but he decided to focus on one problem at a time.

"Trust me, I know the feeling, but you will find yourself enjoying it if you let yourself. And Hermione?" The questioning lilt at the end of her name made her look up and blush slightly as she met his eyes, and though Harry heard the door to the bathroom open he decided to be bold and finish what he was going to say, consequences be damned.

"You don't need to ever ask for permission for a hug, not from anyone okay?" If she was red in the face before, Hermione was now scarlet as she tried to work out whether she should maintain eye contact or look away.

Releasing his hands, Harry pulled himself gently out of the hug to look over at the door, where a beaming Katie was whispering something to a blushing Ginny. To his surprise Katie didn't say anything about what she had undoubtedly heard though, merely walking up to him and mouthing 'later' before continuing past him to where Myrtle was floating.

"Hi there, you must be Myrtle. I am Katie Bell. Though, I imagine you already knew that, given I saw you talking to our boytoy as we walked up." To his surprise Myrtle didn't react to the insinuation the way he expected, the normally melancholy girl giggling before doing a little curtsey.

"Nice to meet you Katie, Harry has told me a lot about you actually, I look forward to spending a lot more time with you." Alarm bells started to sound in Harry's head at the idea of Myrtle and Katie teaming up on him.

Rather than let his imagination run wild at the horrors such a team up could produce, Harry went about distracting himself instead. Slipping past the three girls, Harry made his way over to the rune array he had carved into the door frame to the bathroom, over the last three days after classes and slipping away with his Invisibility cloak.

It was considerably more complex than his usual rune set ups, which was why it had taken him so long. But, as he tapped the five primary rune clusters with his wand and supplied each of them with his magic, it served it's purpose.

The runes activated in a steady stream as the magic flowed from one rune to another. The smooth transitions, along with the small sparks that erupted whenever the magic reached a dead end, were rather entrancing to those who hadn't seen it before. He'd seen it often enough he wasn't overly impressed, but it was clear he was in the minority, as he turned back to the others to see them all having moved closer to watch.

"That should stop most of our 'fans' from getting in, unless they get an upper year or a professor." It was a locking, reinforcement and defensive ward that would prevent access, strengthen the door against physical attempts at bypassing it as well as a strong notice-me-not that would kick in the moment those watching took their eyes off it.

"Damn Harry, you've been holding out on me. I don't think Angie could whip up something like this so easily…" Harry doubted that was totally true, Angie was a sixth year at this point after all, but the praise still elicited a warm feeling in his chest.

"If you think this is impressive, wait until we get down to the Chamber." As he said this Harry caught Hermione's eye, both of them knew they would have to talk about the metaphorical elephant in the room, though Stheno would undoubtedly object at being compared to such a small animal.

"What is it?" To Harry's amusement it was Ginny that asked that question, the youngest Weasley looking between him and Hermione quizzically as Katie was for once out of the loop with what was going on.

"Before we go down to the Chamber properly, there is something the two of you need to know. I don't want it to be a big surprise, but I ask that you try and understand why I haven't told you either of this before now." Given the number of people who could have put listening charms up in the room, Harry didn't want to risk discussing Stheno here, so instead he gestured towards the sink that lead to the chamber.

"I'll tell you on the way down, we don't know if the walls have ears up here. Now, you are all going to have to stand very close to me when I activate this. Unless you want to go down the extreme version of course." Given he hadn't cleaned the pipe down, Harry was glad that none of them seemed particularly eager to use the slide, Hermione moving to grasp his left arm tightly as she already had experience of the limited room available to them.

"I would remind you that's my man you're getting so familiar with Hermione." For once he and Hermione were in perfect sync, casting Katie a deadpan look as she moved up on his right and grabbed his arm in a similar manner.

"Honestly, some people just don't get a good joke, looks like you get his front Ginny. Remember, we need to get very close he said, so make sure you grab on tight." As Ginny moved in front of him he could see Katie's words were affecting her.

The youngest girl had stopped whilst she was pretty much touching the basin, well out of arm's reach, before taking a couple of deep breaths and getting a determined glint in her eye. With two determined steps she was right next to him, arms linked under his and round his waist in what was probably the most intimate hug of the morning, Katie's smirking face making it clear that this was going to be something she was bringing up for a while.

"R-Right, let's get to it shall we?  _Open! Down!"_  As the sink shifted backwards and the floor they were stood on began to descend, Harry felt Ginny stiffen at his use of Parseltongue, obviously some of her nightmares included the hissed language even if she didn't know what it meant.

"Sorry Ginny, one last bit.  _Close!_ " With his arms occupied, all Harry could do was rest his chin against the top of Ginny's head, though it seemed to help as she slowly relaxed back into a normal hug.

"The Chosen One and his three maidens, entwined in a deep embrace as they descend into the depths of Slytherin's lair. Sounds like the start of one of those books they've written about you Harry. Though, with three of us involved, it's probably not a children's version…" And there was Katie breaking the mood of the moment again, her words not exactly helping Harry's attempts to ignore how much of his three female friends were currently brushing against him as they continued down into the tunnel.

"Not cool Katie, not cool." As expected, his response merely elicited a cackle from the girl in question, though thankfully she didn't do anything else overly embarrassing whilst they finished the descent.

"So Harry, what is it you and Hermione are hiding from us? I mean, we already know about you secretly hanging out with some Slytherins. That I understand, given my idiot brother's reactions to everything you two do recently, but that definitely isn't what you're worked up over…" That was the most Harry had ever heard Ginny say in a single conversation, obviously she was trying her best to distract herself from their current position.

"Well, how much do you remember from the Chamber last year?" Now he just had to hope that she wouldn't freak out too badly when he told her the truth about Stheno, there really wasn't much space on the platform for panicking…

!"£$%^&*()_+

Tracey had long come to terms with the fact she would have to deal with more Gryffindors eventually, the fact that Harry had been asked to attend the Greengrass ball was going to mean someone needed to be brought into their confidence sooner or later. But despite that, she had thought that it would have been a little more awkward when it happened, though given Harry's distancing himself from Ron she was perhaps being biased.

Harry was showing the Bell girl around the Chamber, with the assistance of a happily chattering Astoria. As usual Astoria was somehow managing to annoy the older girl, by getting between her and Harry all the time, whilst being so innocent and endearing that Bell couldn't stay mad at her. Daphne and Granger were off looking through some of the older books that Daphne had collated, Tracey knew for a fact that Daphne didn't like books anywhere near as much as she was pretending to, so it was obviously an attempt to win the bookworm over.

It wasn't a bad plan, as the entire school had seen with the Ron Weasley debacle, Harry and Hermione were a friendship package. Upset one of them, and the other would side with them almost unequivocally, even if it took them some time to eventually take that side.

Speaking of Weasley's, the Slytherin's unofficial plan to 'divide and befriend' had left her with the youngest red-head in the admittedly massive family brood. The girl had been staying near the entrance of the Chamber, ever since they had journeyed to let the Slytherin's into the Chamber, using a hidden entrance on the Ground floor behind a Parseltongue enchanted mirror.

Given the backstory of what had happened last year it was understandable, Stheno was an intimidating being at the best of times, Tracey couldn't comprehend the thought of her rampaging around the Chamber.

"If it helps, I thought Harry had brought us down to kill us when we first met, I nearly wet myself when I first saw her." It was probably more true than Tracey would have normally liked to admit, but the honesty seemed to help as the girl smiled a little even though she was clearly still terrified.

"R-really? Given how Katie and Hermione acted, I thought it was just me…" It was like dealing with an 8 year old Daphne once more, though this was more fear of a 60 foot Snake rather than terror of accidentally releasing her powers.

"Come on, the only way you will get over this is if you come meet her. Harry! Can we borrow you to introduce Ginny to Stheno?" It was the equivalent of throwing someone terrified of water into the middle of the Ocean so that they learned to get over their fears, but Tracey had always been one to face problems head on, and it worked with Daphne well enough.

There was a squeak from her fellow redhead but, given the girl's small size, it was easy enough to drag her towards the middle of the Chamber. The snake in question reared it's head from by Slytherin's main statue, the Basilisk seemed to understand how terrifying it could be, given it had stayed coiled up and mostly unmoving since they arrived.

It hissed something, which made both Ginny and Katie flinch, though Tracey was used to the noise by now and merely looked at Harry expectantly.

"Come on snake charmer, you have a room full of girls to impress, don't let your skill with Tongues fail you now…" Harry merely shook his head, trying to hide his blush, but Tracey saw Bell give her a massive smile and thumbs up from behind him.

"Stheno says she expects me to introduce her, and that the little Slytherin in a red cloak shouldn't be forced to confront her so soon." Nearly everyone was confused by how Stheno referred to Ginny, which was good as Tracey didn't like to be the only one left out.

The only one who hadn't looked confused was Astoria, but given the constant breeze passing over them meant that her powers were 'talking' to her again, that wasn't out of the norm for the girl.

"What does Stheno mean Ginny?" Harry's tone wasn't angry or cautious, simply concern as Ginny's face matched that of a Deer in the face of a Stunning Spell.

Well there went the chance of this being an easy first meeting with no issues...

!"£$%^&*()_+

"Heiress Greengrass..." The use of her formal title made Daphne mentally roll her eyes, before casting Draco her best uninterested look.

He wouldn't be the first or even the tenth person to approach her since her return from the Solstice ball, and all of them somehow assumed that referring to her formally would cause her to divulge the identity of the young Slytherin Lord.

"Heir Malfoy, if you wouldn't mind I am trying to watch the game, I have no time or patience to put up with another bout of questions." It was at times like this that Daphne appreciated her somewhat steadfast reputation as a very private and unsociable person, it made brushing off people's sudden attempts to befriend her all the easier.

The fact that people referred to her as the 'Ice Queen' because of it amused Tracey no end. The irony of the title even brought a smile to her own lips on occasion, when people 'whispered' it as she passed.

"You heard the Ice Queen Draco, unless you have some mid game snacks then leave us be..." Tracey's comment elicited a sigh from the Malfoy scion, but to her surprise he didn't get mad as she had originally expected.

Instead, a pair of chocolate frogs appeared in front of her, both of which were grabbed rapidly by her best friend before Daphne grasped what Malfoy was doing.

"Bribe accepted, sorry Daphne..." Casting a faux betrayed look at her friend, even as Tracey cast some basic detection spells on the blatant bribe, Daphne decided to give Draco credit for researching them before approaching.

Tracey's sweet tooth wasn't particularly well known, but it was one of her greatest weaknesses.

"You realise I am not so easily manipulated Heir Malfoy, you will fare no better than your lackeys who have already been pressing me for information..." The most obvious of which had been Crabbe, the boy obviously nervous even approaching her.

He had been forced to read from what were probably Malfoy's notes, in order for her to even understand what he was trying to ask her about.

"And if any of them had succeeded I would have been disappointed, but at least this way I can tell Father that I have tried." The casual comment was so unexpected that Daphne couldn't stop herself from turning and giving him an incredulous look, the boy giving his usual smirk in response, before scowling briefly as the announcer shouted about  _another_  Gryffindor goal.

"Lord Slytherin stared down my Father, and despite the fact my Father thinks he manipulated him with his act, I am not so sure that the manipulation wasn't  _allowed_ to happen. So, I have my Father pressing me to find information from you regarding his identity. He of course, somehow expects me to get you to open up about something even your own Mother couldn't get out of you, if the rumours are to be believed. But given he's not the one who will be hexed if I piss you off too much, or if this mysterious Lord decides I am getting too close, I have an alternative proposal."

If Daphne hadn't been both interested and suspicious before, she definitely was now. Even Tracey had paused in devouring her second bribe to give him a disbelieving look, which given the headless frog that was still trying to escape her grasp, was no small thing.

"Nice try, whoever you are, but there is no way that the Draco we know would admit that he doesn't follow his father's every word and command..." Unless this was what Lucius had in fact told him to do, the elder Malfoy was certainly strategic enough to try such a thing, even if his son would struggle to make it even slightly believable.

"And that is exactly why I am doing this. Even Potter has matured somewhat and gotten rid of the worst of the Weasels..." The look of disgust was clear on Draco's face, as he was forced to give his self proclaimed arch rival something of a backhanded compliment, though it was clear to Daphne that it wasn't the only reason for his change in tact.

Whilst Slytherin wasn't the nest of backstabbing, self serving egomaniacs that the other houses tended to view them as, there was still an unofficial power structure that some of their house liked to jockey for. Whilst Draco currently commanded a dominant position in their year, that didn't mean much given they were only in their third year, especially with the number of times he had been shown up by Potter.

To gain a better position in relation to the upper years, as well as within Slytherin house as a whole, Draco needed to mature both his attitude as well as his approach. It was something that Daphne had known since their first year after the whole flying class debacle, but she had thought it would be at least another year before Malfoy realised it himself.

"Whilst I applaud your self introspection and reduced reliance on your father to promote your social standing, I fail to see how this concerns me in the slightest Heir Malfoy. So, please either get to the point or allow me to continue watching the game in peace." She wouldn't go so far as to insist he would need to leave, as long as he didn't distract her then there were worse people to be sat next to.

But she wanted to continue controlling this conversation's direction away from Draco's original line of questioning, and forcing him to appease her or lose his chance to bargain further was a blunt but effective way to achieve this.

"I wish for you to pass along this invitation to our Summer Solstice ball, that my Mother has sent me for Lord Slytherin. Whilst my Father is happy with upsetting potential political powerhouses, as well as your own noble house, my Mother prefers to look at the longer term. Mother is of the view that perhaps an apology to both of you, and this invitation, may open up the possibility of more cordial relations between all of our houses." Draco pulled out a pair of still crisp sealed letters from the inside of his robe and offered it in her direction, but Daphne wanted to determine something that she had noticed Draco had been deliberately quiet on, before she accepted anything.

"And what are your opinions on the matter Heir Malfoy? If you truly wish to start making a name for yourself as you have claimed, you cannot continue to only offer the opinions and views of others." Her rebuke made him nod his head slightly in acknowledgement of her point, but the lack of other signs of embarrassment made it clear that Draco had omitted his opinion on purpose, another attempt to allow her to think she was leading the conversation.

It was another sign that he was learning, albeit in a currently amateurish and easily discernable manner, and that made him potentially useful.

"I, I am learning that perhaps I need to give more time before forming my opinions on things, especially on something as important as a new Lord Slytherin. The number of different rumours regarding him after just one appearance, especially as many of them contradict each other in one form or another, leave me with little more information than what I have heard from Father and the  _Daily Prophet_. So, I am attempting to keep an open mind, until I encounter the Lord for myself." Huh, that told her absolutely nothing, but was also completely honest as far as she could tell.

Perhaps she would give Draco more credit for his newfound maturity than she had previously intended.

"Dementors!" The cry initially caused a small well of panic in Daphne's chest, given what had happened to Ha-Heir Potter during his last encounter with the dreaded jailers of Azkaban.

But she caught a wince cross Draco's face at the cry, and he didn't look even the slightest bit concerned. This meant she was already suspicious, before the silver shape Heir Potter summoned slammed into the two dark creatures, who had been 'floating' near the bottom of the pitch. As the spell caused one of the dementors to fall over, it's cloak rose to reveal Crabbe and Goyle, trying to untangle themselves from their apparel.

Perhaps she had been too kind about Heir Malfoy's changes after all…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, we have the fall out of the Ball continuing, including the Slytherin and Gryffindor girls meeting for the first time. Whilst there could have been conflict between them, I like to think that the Slytherin's are smart enough to realise that they are not in a strong position if they do fall out and try and make Harry choose sides.
> 
> So instead they try and 'play nice', which will be helped by the similar humour of Tracey and Katie if nothing else. Of course, my little cliff hanger about Ginny won't help matters, but I couldn't resist :)
> 
> On a more serious note, I have to offer an apology now. I have recently bought a house, which all of a sudden means I have suddenly got to worry about this whole 'being an adult and managing my budget' thing. I know I don't post regularly, but this is me letting you guys know that that rate is going to drop significantly going forward.
> 
> I did set up P a treon account, but I don't think what I offer on here is going to be worth people spending money on. Though, if you want to check it out, it is the same username as I use here. Perhaps I am being overly pessimistic.
> 
> I have muscled through all of my working stories to provide you with a new chapter for each of them, I hope you all enjoy them, and apologies for the bad news.
> 
> Lastly, this is my longest chapter for this story! Just thought I would try and tag on a positive to the end there.
> 
> Defias out!

**Author's Note:**

> Literally wrote this all in one go the other day. Let me know what you think of it, what should I include more of, where can I improve etc?


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